Fallout: Last Revolution
by eaglescorch
Summary: The Courier and Lone Wanderer have been to hell and back. Now after a long time at war, they are at peace. But when mass rebellions and war engulf the southwest once more, they are forced back into conflict against each other and the threats they share. Unknown to them, their old nemesis has risen once more, and no one is safe. When Utopia beckons, the Revolution begins...
1. Changing World

Hello. I know I said this was probably going to take a while to get out but as it turns out It was easier to start then I thought. This is the third part in the Supremacy One Series, hope you enjoy as this will be a rather long story, much longer then Price of Defiance, and will reveal Orion's true endgame at long last.

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Fallout: Last Revolution

Chapter 1

Changing World

Lucky 38-Eight Months after the Daybreak War

The New Vegas Confederacy Council was meeting in the Lucky 38. At the long table in the penthouse, some of the most important people in the Confederacy sat in their chairs waiting for the arrival of the Sovereign of New Vegas. At the table sat Marcus, Trudy, Cliff Briscoe, Elder McNamara, Cachino, Marjorie, Swank, Daniel, Arcade Gannon, Veronica, John Cassidy, The King, Ringo, the new cheif of the Crimson Caravan, Jack, leading the Boomers, and their newest member, Sarah Lyons, who represented the Capital Wastelanders who had resettled in New Vegas after the destruction of the Capital Wasteland eight months prior.

"Where is he?" Trudy asked.

"Probably busy with something as usual. He's been doing this often recently, paying more and more visits to Big MT." Veronica replied.

"What has he been doing there?" Marcus asked.

"I don't know. Their has been a lot of secrecy since the Minutemen showed up." Veronica explained, referring to the terrorist insurrection that had been attacking them for the last six months.

"I thought it started when Vault City fell." Ringo said.

"That too." Arcade added.

"Don't worry. We can trust him." Cliff said.

"You sure about that? He hasn't done anything to stop the attacks on Novac, has he Cliff?" Trudy said.

"I don't trust him." Cachino said.

"That cat's not right." Swank said. "Something about him is just off."

"He's got his own problems Swank." Veronica said.

They all stopped talking when they heard the elevator doors open. The Sovereign entered the room. He was wearing his usual duster, and wielding his normal weapons.

Problem being: It wasn't John Hollister. It wasn't the Courier. It was Ulysses.

He walked down the steps towards the table. They all looked at him with suspicion. All except John Cassidy, Veronica, Arcade, and Sarah.

He sat in his chair looking down the rest of the council.

"What is the current status of the California Border?" Ulysses asked.

Veronica stood up. "The situation is tense at the least. The main roads have been blockaded by both us and the Revolutionist Federation. It looks like the cease-fire is becoming more and more of a burden for both sides."

"I've positioned soldiers all along the border." Elder McNamara stated. "Not sure what good it will do. The Major's forces always somehow best our men."

"Excuse me." Arcade said. "I don't know if you've noticed, but we are in a cease-fire with the Revolutionist Federation. We should probably focus on a more pressing concern: the Minutemen."

"I agree." Ringo said. "I've lost six Caravans in the last two weeks alone. Our economy is crumbling, and these anarchists aren't helping."

"They've made their demands clear." Sarah said. "If we want the attacks to stop, we might have to oblige."

"I'm not putting the Courier in that position." Ulysses said. "He earned this nations independence, I will not forsake him for it."

"Then explain this: When he left you in power, he said it would be temporary." McNamara added. "That was five months ago, and while he's been sighted briefly, their have been no sightings since one month ago. Where did he go?"

Ulysses didn't answer. "I thought that would be your answer." McNamara said. The rest of the council looked at Sarah.

"How are your counter-terrorism operations working out?" Marcus asked.

"One is underway now." Sarah said. "Leon Stinger is at the head of the operation."

"Are you sure he is up to the task?" McNamara asked, still somewhat suspicious of the former sentinel.

"Let me put it to you this way. I would follow him to hell and back again."

* * *

Cottonwood Cove

Leon Stinger, Lone Wanderer, crouched on the cliffs above Cottonwood Cove, looking down the scope of the Victory Rifle. Since the arrival of the Capital Wastelanders, the Confederacy Council had been renovating former footholds of Caesar's Legion as homes for the wastelanders. The Minutemen had appeared a few weeks after the public announcement that the Capital Wastelanders were joining the Confederacy. They originally just seemed to be another petty raider group, armed with the basic weapons. John Hollister, the Courier, had sent a Platoon of Sand Marines to put down the threat. Only the Sand Marines heads made it back to them. Further troubling about the Insurrection, was their equipment. As all of the Minutemen's targets became more bunkered down and protected, the Minutemen seemed to be upgrading their own weapons. What started out as maybe ten men with Hunting Rifles, became an army of at least 400, armed with Brotherhood level technology. Their shock troopers, Shock Soldiers, were armed with Salvaged Power Armor and Plasma Casters, while Scouts were armed with Reinforced Leather Armor and Fully Modified Hunting Rifles.

"This is Vincent. Anyone see them?" One of the patrols asked. Vincent Ramses was a Confederacy Recruit, fresh out of basic training. Leon had requested him after seeing his record. Top of his class, Clean kills, Absolutely Spotless record.

"Stay alert." Leon said. "The information that was leaked is untraceable, they believe that there is a heavy weapons shipment about to leave here, they wouldn't hesitate to attack."

"Well they seem to be taking their sweet time with this one." Vincent replied.

"This is Vanessa, we've moved the remaining civilians across the river. They won't be in the line of fire." Vanessa Franks was a former NCR soldier, who had defected to the New Vegas Confederacy alongside the Desert Rangers, before the Revolutionist Federation rose up and destroyed the remainder of the NCR. She was a good tactician and an excellent soldier.

"Good. At least we won't have to deal with any innocent people dead." Leon replied. Looking down the scope, he saw Vincent and his soldiers, on top of the roof in cottonwood cove, while Vanessa soldiers were in cover behind the boats in the harbor.

"How much longer?" Vincent asked, irritated.

"As long as it takes. Leon said.

"Come on, I want to see ac-" Vincent couldn't speak when a shot went clear through his throat. He collapsed to the ground, dead, as 30 Minutemen attacked. Vincent's men were quickly dispatched with shots from Plasma Casters. The Shock Troopers advanced, the signature emblem of the Minutemen, an old colonial flag, on their chests. Scouts positioned themselves all over the cliffs and began decimating all of Leon's task force. Leon opened fire killing several Shock Soldiers as they advanced on Vanessa's Unit. Leon fired off several more soldiers before being fired upon by Scouts. Leon grabbed out a Missile Launcher and fired a barrage of Hive missiles at the nearby cliffs, killing several scouts.

He jumped from his hiding spot, down the cliffside, sliding down several rocks so not to fall over the edge. He reached the ground pulling out his Assault Rifle. He dove into cover before opening fire. He launched several bursts of saturnite bullets, that quickly pierced one mans helmet for an instant kill, before wounding two more. Vanessa jumped over the boats cover and advanced against the enemy. The Surviving Scouts pinned them down as the Minutemen pushed on. Leon couldn't move with the Shock Troopers on all sides.

Suddenly, Protonic Inversal Throwing Knives flew through the air and hit several Shock Soldiers, exploding with a great blast radius on contact, killing at least ten men. Leon saw them hit and immedaietley knew who was behind it. Their was only one person he knew who used those weapons. Leon looked up and saw someone he thought he would never see again: Reaper.

Reaper dodged several shots from the Plasma Casters then threw a barrage of her signature weapons, before grabbing out her sword and driving it threw six more men before the explosions from the knives disintegrated the remaining enemies. The Shock Soldiers turned around and fled, none willing to take the shot to kill Reaper.

Leon approached the hooded figure. She looked at Leon with an expression of disappointment, and an unspoken anger.

"Hello Wanderer." Reaper said.

"Hello Reaper." Leon replied, very surprised. "I didn't expect to see you here, or anywhere for that matter."

"I was asked to come here." She replied.

"Ulysses?" Leon asked.

"No." Reaper replied.

Leon felt anger stir inside him. "John?" He asked again.

"No. I was asked by my superiors. Who they may be remains on a need to know basis." Reaper declared.

"Fair enough." Leon said.

Vanessa and her men approached them. "What the hell just happened? That wasn't a simple raiding party, that was a well armed attack. How did they know we were planning this? And who is she?" Vanessa asked.

"I suppose I should go. My superiors will want to here that this went smoothly." Reaper said. Before she walked away, she looked back at Leon. "If you see John anytime soon, would you give him this?" She said, handing him a small box.

Leon grabbed it and then handed it to Vanessa. "John hasn't been in New Vegas for months. No one's seen him, and I hope no one ever does again."

Reaper, despite her intelligence, didn't know that. "Then... Where is he?"

* * *

Flagstaff-Caesar's Legion Capital City

Lanius sat on his throne alongside his Legate, Andromeda. She was the first female Legate since Lanius's reformations in the Legion. She had a shaved head, and wore a duster with the Legion emblem on the back, a gift from the Courier.

Suddenly, a centurion ran through the door.

"Caesar! We have found an intruder posing as a Legionnaire. He is being brought here now!"

"Who is it?" Lanius asked.

Suddenly, a man was brought in by two praetorian guards. He was wearing tattered rags and an executioners cowl.

Lanius stood from his throne, walking down the steps, towards the man. He already knew who it was, he just wished it wasn't.

He took the cowl off of the figure, revealing a very poorly kept John Hollister.

John looked up, his beard and his hair grown and poorly kept, dirt in his face and teary eyes, into Lanius's mask.

"Hello, Courier."


	2. Everything to Fear

Hello. Sorry it took me awhile to get this out. Been very busy recently and this is one of those chapters I rewrote and am still not sure about. Also, I've just bought Dishonored and X-COM Enemy Unknown. Both are incredible. Anyway, hope this was worth the wait. Enjoy!

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Still replying to reviews.

CyberJordan: You'll know soon enough. If you're talking about the 80's it's not them, but they are involved.

Oddliver: Glad to have you on board.

DumpsterHobo01: Yes... MWAHAHAHAHAHA! The plot to kill you with cliffhangars isn't over yet!

Slovous: Glad you're back too. I might send a rescue chopper... Someday.

FranktheTank: High Praise to start off the story. Thanks very much.

sonicbullet534: Okay. I have an entire rant planned for this, so I'm going to respond to your reviews individually.

1. Glad you like it. Most of your questions will be answered, so keep reading, but I'll say this now: The NCR is nothing but dust at this point, New Vegas weren't the only ones attacked by Supremacy One. The Revolutionist Federation is in control of their territory, and Lanius has made reformations in the Legion, so things have changed drastically.

2. Go ahead. Just credit me in it's creation.

3. It's a new story. It takes time to get a routine going. But anyway Here you go, hope the wait was worth it.

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Chapter 2

Everything to Fear

John looked up at the cold gaze of Lanius's mask. It was a gaze he could never forget. From the day he stood at the Legate's Camp, Lanius's Mask was an image of pain and fear. He had watched Lanius kill several men at the battleground. Back then, John had the upper hand. Now he was at the mercy of a man who had slaughtered his own tribe for satisfaction. Yet what happened next did not surprise the Courier.

"Andromeda. Crucify this Centurion." Lanius said, pointing at the Centurion who walked in to annouce his capture. "When that's done bring these Praetorian's to the street and make them duel. The survivor is to be killed by your hand."

"Yes. Caesar." She said. She walked forward and the Centurion attempted to fight her off. He drew his machete, but Andromeda knocked it out of his hands. She took the machete and broke it with her hands. She grabbed him by the arms and twisted them a full 360 degrees before letting go. She then dragged him to the street, the two Praetorians did not attempt to fight her.

She slamed the door to the throne room behund her. John looked around the room. The Throne Room was large, square, one long table in the center, most likely where all the generals and cheifs met for celebratory feasts and important meetings. The throne was a definition of Legion brutality and pride. The frame of the throne was made of bones and tanned animal skins painted with symbols. John knew latin, an he knew that wasn't it. He realized something as he looked around: The tanned skins were new additions to the throne, added during Lanius's reign. John figured it out. The markings were the old flags of the 87 tribes the Legion had conquered, missing only one: Ulysses tribe, the Twisted Hairs. It might have been a tribute to the frumentarius who found Hoover Dam, or a mark of shame, seeing as though the very same frumentarius was the Courier's ally and closest friend.

He was snapped out of his thought when a throwing knife cut the robes on his hands and feet. The quick feeling of the steel against his legs brought back bad memories for John. Memories of New York, memories of Orion's terrible laugh as he crippled John's legs. The mechanical frame was still on his legs, and still regularly released dosages of chems for his legs. He looked up to see that that Lanius had thrown the knife, and at such an angle where it would boomerang back had the floor not been there.

John stood, feeling his wrists. He took another look around the room before looking at Lanius. Despite having been bitter foes, they now held a sense of respect for one another, each having slowly eased hostility between nations.

"Sit down, Courier." Lanius demanded. John pulled up one of the hard wooden chairs and sat down.

John said nothing as he sat down, barely willing to meet Lanius's gaze.

Lanius looked at him, noting his rough conditions. "Why are you here?" Lanius asked.

John looked at him for a moment, then looked down at the table.

Lanius continued to look down the Courier. "My intelligence reports indicated that the last sighting of you was on your northern border. Salt Lake City." Lanius continued. "That was five months ago. You could be as far as the Eastern Midwest by now, yet only now do you appear, here in my city. Lanius stood up. I'll ask you again, why are you here?"

John finally looked up at him. "For someone who despises spies, you certainlly seem to rely on them." John said, weakly.

Lanius was obviously angered by that comment.

"Then again, someone who relied on their spies would know that I speant the last five months on the move, before I infiltrated a Caesar's Legion caravan bound for the Texas Territories two weeks ago."

"How?" Lanius asked, calming down little by little.

"The Caravan set out from the town of Troy's Charge. I was in the town after making my way across the border. When I heard of the Caravan, I found a way on board. One of your Legion Patrols went missing that same day, you can connect the dots there."

Lanius looked at him, now with more questions then answers. He sat down. "That doesn't answer my question. I asked why, not how."

John went silent once more. Lanius looked at him and finally deduced the answer.

"You were running." Running away. Lanius declared.

"Now you've got it." John said.

"Why? You're in command of the most powerful nation on this earth, yet you run from it." Lanius stated.

"I'm not running from the Confederacy, I'm running from what's on the other side of it." John declared.

"The Revolutionist Federation." Lanius said.

"Partly." John said. "In the months after the cease-fire, everything went dark, we couldn't get any word from within the Federation. No one ever comes out of that god-forsaken country, so I needed in. I made my way across the border, through the Irradiated Long 15, and made my way to Shady Sands."

"What did you find?" Lanius asked, curious as he barely had information on the Federation either.

John hesistated, then spoke. "The Major puts you to shame in brutality, he makes Legion tactics seem tame and peaceful." John declared, fear in his voice. "I made my way to Shady Sands, only to find that the town was a fresh massacre. Men were in pieces, the women probably wished they were, and children had it the worst, having to live in a nation of killers, savages, and psychopaths. The town itself was dyed red with bloodshed. How do you not fear that?"

Lanius looked at him. "Are you that surprised?" Lanius asked. "A man tempted with power takes control, do you think this is new? We're at the end of an era. They aren't the first revolution in the southwest. Like it or not, Courier, you were the first. You rebelled aginst House, then defied the NCR and us. You inspired men like the Major. You triggered this power shift. First you and the Confederacy, then the Revolutionist Federation, Hannibal, and now the Minutemen..."

John's eyes widened at one name in that list. "Hannibal?" John asked.

Lanius looked up at him, realizing he let a detail that he wanted kept under the radar loose. "Nevermind." Lanius replied, irritation in his voice. He quickly shifted the questions. "You said that the Revolutionist Federation was only part of it, what was the other?"

John didn't respond. His mind quickly had a flashback to the sinister laugh of Orion as he crippled his legs. John looked down as another doseage of painkillers ran through his legs from the mechanized frame.

He stood up and looked down the table. "Goodbye, Lanius." John said, walking out the door without another word.

"Goodbye, Courier." Lanius stated.

* * *

Supremacy Command

Orion stood in his command center, far out of reach of mankind, looking at a holographic model of the planet Earth. On it were five red dots, each marked with a different name. His mechanical eyes met the first, then moved down to the mechanical console below.

"Archangel. List the remaining components."

"Confirmed." A female computer voice responded. A list of items and data appeared on a holographic screen. None of these things would make sense to anyone but Orion. He searched the list, and came across a unique component.

"Archangel. Is this the only item not in Supremacy hands?"

"Confirmed."

"Where is this item located?" Orion asked. The computer system known as the Archangel Directive, quickly closed in on the location.

Orion's eyes widened. "Check through all who have visited this location." Orion demanded. There were a series of beeps then a slightly deeper sound, revealing a list of names, a large number of which had the word deceased next to them. Out of both Pre-War and Post-War people, only four remained alive, one of which was John Hollister.

"How interesting." Orion mumbled. "Prepare a Vertibird Fleet."

"Are you leaving, sir?" Archangel asked.

"No. Too much to do. Contact the Devil Guard. They will serve my purpose."

"Yes, sir."

Archangel opened a Comm. Channel and revealed a soldier wearing advanced Supremacy One Armor.

"Lord Orion. What do you require?" He asked.

"Is your entire platoon there?" Orion asked.

"All of us are present."

"I'm sending your orders and equipment. Follow them to the letter. If you fail me, hope and pray that you are never found."

"Yes sir." He replied. The Comm. Channel closed, and the commander looked at the orders as they arrived.

Your objectives are simple: Find and capture Dean Domino. Torture him. He will lead you to your actual target: Fredrick Sinclair's Sierra Madre Casino.


	3. New Troubles on New Homefronts

Hello. I'm getting back on track with my regular updating, and in a personal record 14 reviews in the first two chapters, thanks very much. Also glad everyone is interested in Hannibal, you might have to wait awhile but you'll see him. Hope you continue to enjoy.

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CyberJordan: Dean survived, though he won't live much longer if Orion has his way. As for Arch-enemies, I can't say much about Hannibal.

Oddliver: I swear the first time I played through Dead Money I screamed like a maniac in rage. The Holo-Rifle will appear, although i'm not sure you'll be happy who's using it when it comes.

Slovous: Glad you're intrigued, and i'm not feeling that generous. I'll send you a hang in there kitty poster, though.

DumpsterHobo01: Wow thank you very much. That is incredibly high praise, thanks very much.

Nick of the Water Tribe: Not quite. You're going to enjoy this as it goes on.

ejthepinoy: Exactly. There can't be Rome without Carthage.

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Chapter 3

New Troubles on New Homefronts

Northern Nevada

Dean Domino was sitting in a bar in a small town in northern Nevada, looking down a near-empty bottle of Scotch. He took one last swig of the bottle to finish it off. A barmaid walked over to him and grabbed the bottle, looking at Dean.

"You need anything else, Domino?" She asked.

"What do you think?" He replied, sarcastically, dropping six caps. She looked at him, then pulled out another bottle of Scotch, handing it to him.

"Bottom's up." She said, taking the caps and walking away. That's what Dean liked about this place, the dirt-cheap drinks. He looked around the tavern for a moment realizing he had drowned out the entire room. It was a large room, eight tables filled with gamblers, there were six men at one table, two at another, and the rest were empty. At least eight men and women sat at seperate booths, eating and drinking.

Dean took a drink of the new scotch, not even close to drunk, yet knowing he had way too much. He took another drink then heard several doors open and footsteps make there way to him. He suddenly felt to massive shadows overlooking him.

He turned in his seat to see two Supremacy Soldiers standing not two feet away.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" Dean asked, not realizing who he was dealing with.

"Dean Domino, you have to come with us." They said.

"And what if I don't?" Dean asked.

He got his answer as they bashed his head into the counter. The barmaid walked out.

"What is going on out here-" She couldn't finish as she was disintegrated by a beam of energy from one soldier's neutron rifle. The other opened fire and slaughtered all the patrons.

The soldier grabbing Dean spoke again.

"It's not optional."

* * *

Den of Crows

Deep in the Nevada wastes, in the ruins of Carson City, a small settlement glimmered among the sand covered city. This settlement was known as the Den of Crows. It started out as a poor fairing salvage settlement, and for a time was abandoned to the sands. Then over the course of years, drifters and wanderers sort of migrated in, alongside prospectors looking to make fortunes of the mostly untouched Carson City, and fugitives looking for refuge. Now it was a sort of Boom Town, 850 people living in the ruins. The New Vegas Confederacy mainly left them alone despite their hold on Nevada, not looking to anger local settlements if they didn't have to. Their were many caravans that made their way through the town, resupplying it and ensuring it's survival. However, no one saw the truth behind the masquerade of the town. In actuality, every citizen in the town made up the bulk of the Minutemen. Each of them supported and served in the Insurrection. Several members of the Aristocracy, the command structure of the Minutemen, called the Den of Crows home.

In the town hall, several Aristocrats were discussing the Minutemen's current operations in the Mojave. There were two men and a single woman. The first man's name was Bertrand Thomas, a leading politician in a small conservative political party, representing six small towns including Den of Crows, opposing the Independents, John Hollister's Revolutionary Political Party, and the Executors, the Capital Wasteland Radical Political Party. He held great contempt for the Courier and his Government, believed he was doing nothing to help anything outside the Mojave Desert.

The second man was Leonerd Craft, former NCR Presidental Elect before the Revolutionist Federation coup-d'état. He had been a senator before the Supremacy One attacks. His hatred for the Courier's Government was for letting the NCR collapse. He controlled a remnant of NCR Loyalist Forces.

The woman was probably the most deadly person at the table, Tania Annex, Warlord and Supreme Chieftain of the 80's Tribe. Previously she dominated Utah and commanded a raider empire. That was before the Sorrows and Dead Horses joined forces and pushed them back to Salt Lake City. Not long after, the Courier declared them an intolerable threat and decimated them, forcing a full-scale retreat from the Confederacy. Her hatred for him wasn't hard to narrow down.

"I'm done waiting." Craft said. "The Executioner has done nothing to assist us. I'm leaving if Operation: Downfall isn't activated by the end of the week."

Annex looked a him. "You'll stay." She declared. "You say he's done nothing, but in the past few months, he has done more than you have done in two years."

"I agree." Bertrand said. "We stand with the Executioner and the other members of the Aristocracy."

"And what if nothing changes?" Craft asked.

"If you leave, you guarantee nothing will change." Bertrand said.

Suddenly, a data sheet began to rollout of a nearby machine. He looked at it and then looked at Tania.

"This is your department." He said.

She read over the orders, and smiled, leaving without another word.

* * *

Lucky 38

Sarah and Ulysses were speaking alone in the Lucky 38 penthouse, discussing the outcome of the counter-terror operation.

"What went wrong? Ulysses asked, irritated and angry with how their fortunes were turning out.

"We don't know." Sarah said. "Leon is looking through what is left from the battle, the enemy equipment was heavily damaged. We lost five men. One squadron and two early alert scouts."

Ulysses looked at Sarah with anger. "How did you drop the ball so far?" Ulysses asked.

"There was no way we could have known." Sarah said. "The data we leaked was completely fool-proof. I don't know how they saw through the forgery."

Ulysses felt his blood rush, this wasn't how this war should have gone. They had dealt with threats far worse then the Minutemen, yet they were losing to this extremist Insurrection.

He looked to the elevator as he heard the doors open and Leon walked out, anger in his eyes.

"What did you find?" Sarah asked. She saw the fury in Leon's eyes, the unhinged animal that lived inside him. She had seen it before: Once when he killed Autumn, and during the New York Campaign, when John shot and killed Amata. She knew she wasn't going to like what he found.

"Take a look for yourself." He threw a battered holotape to Ulysses. Ulysses looked at it for a moment, then placed it into his own Pip-Boy, salvaged years earlier. It lit up and revealed the enemy orders.

"Strike Team Bravo, our people inside the New Vegas Government have informed us that a promising weapons convoy is in fact a counter-terror operation. Natrually, we are not going to pass up this oppurtunity, the Executioner has ordered all members of this counter-terror group to be eliminated at once. However, one of our most important informants has become involved in this group to ensure all goes as planned. You must choose your targets carefully to ensure our informant is not harmed. The Executioner himself has given this order. With this action we are one step closer to launching Operation: Downfall. Follow these orders and report back when they are complete."

Ulysses was speechless. Not only did the Minutemen hold connections in the Confederacy, but one of them was in Leon's Team.

Sarah looked at Leon. "Did you find anything else?" She asked.

"No. I think this is enough." Leon said, disdain in his voice. "Five men killed by one man's words... It doesn't surprise me how sick people can be in a times like these."

"Do you have any idea who the mole in your unit is?" Sarah asked.

Leon looked at her. "I wouldn't be surprised if everyone left on my team turned out to be spies." Leon said. "One of them is a turncoat NCR soldier, the other three are relatively unknown." Leon looked at his mechanical arm, imagining all he could do with one hand alone.

"What's are you suggesting?" Ulysses asked.

Leon smiled sinisterly at Ulysses. "Give me ten minutes with them. If one of them talks, the rest go free. If none do, I execute them all."

Ulysses looked away and walked towards the window, looking out towards the Mojave.

He looked back at Leon. "No. We aren't animals." Ulysses said. "You're going to do this offically. Start by searching records. Check the background on all of your soldiers. Search for recent communications out of New Vegas. Track where they've been."

Leon knew he couldn't convince Ulysses otherwise, so he moved on. "What of the deceased?" Leon asked.

Ulysses got a glare in his eyes. "Do the same. There is no way to know if the didn't murder their own man to ensure he didn't talk." He looked back out the window. "You can never be too care-" Ulysses couldn't continue as he suddenly collapsed to the ground in a fountain of red, created by the bullet that had gone through the window and straight into his chest, passing through his right left lung, spliting into six shards, and lodging itself in his shoulder.

Leon and Sarah ran forward. Sarah checked the unconscious Ulysses's pulse, while Leon looked down to see a man in unfamiliar uniform, standing on top of the monorail station, holding a Ratslayer, no doubt loaded with Hollow Point Rounds.

The assassin fled, and Leon ran to the command console.

"Yes-Man! Ulysses is down! Call medics!"


	4. An Escalating Situation

Hello. I really don't have anything to say. Hope you enjoy this chapter.

* * *

Oddliver: He will make it, but he won't come out unscathed.

Nick of the WaterTribe: Glad you picked up on that, and you're right. That description was from Leon's perspective.

Slovous: I think the people of New Vegas agree with you. Take a wild guess who get's assigned to counter them.

The Night Hunter: Thank you. Here you go!

Now the leadership of New Vegas is questioned, and an old foe from Supremacy One rises again

* * *

Chapter 4

An Escalating Situation

Lucky 38

Leon was sitting in the casino, waiting for the diagnosis on Ulysses. Dr. Usanagi was called from the Follower's Clinic with a portable Auto-Doc. She had rushed as quickly as she could. The Securitrons and New Vegas Military had combed the Strip for hours but found nothing. The assassin had fled and left no trace they were ever there. Sarah had called the Confederacy Council in Emergency Session, this attack had left the Strip in a mass panic. Leon was angry, there was no hiding that. They didn't have a proper medical center on the Strip, instead Dr. Usanagi used the back rooms open tables to help Ulysses. Leon looked at his Mechanical Arm, he had noticed stains of blood on his palm: Ulysses Blood.

"He'll make it." A voice said. Leon looked up to see a visually pregnant Cass. She sat down next to him at the bar.

"You sure about that?" Leon asked, only barely knowing Cass. They hadn't met many times, once or twice for formal meetings. All Leon really knew about her was that John Hollister and Cass were husband and wife, and she was expecting a son in about a month. The first one alone was a reason he didn't really care to know her. His hatred for John made him distance himself from anyone the Courier cared about. She herself hadn't left the Strip for some time, she couldn't. Arcade performed check-ups on her when she needed it, and Veronica and Raul would come by and keep her company. Despite John's absence, she never gave up on him coming back.

"Ulysses has been through far worse." Cass replied. "He's survived the creation of the Divide, he can survive a bullet."

"Sorry if I don't share your confidence." Leon declared, coldly. "If he had to be honest Leon held no confidence in Ulysses survival."

Cass looked at him. "He'll make it, he and John have always come back."

Leon looked at her, fire in his eyes. "And where is John now? Leon asked, angrily. "Because I don't see him in Vegas. I definitely don't see him coming back."

Cass looked at him spitefully. "He'll be back. No matter where he goes, he is always drawn back to Vegas."

Just then Usanagi walked out. Leon stood up, his mechanical eye identifying her heart rate was elevated, while Cass walked back towards the elevator.

"How is he?" Leon asked.

"Stable, but in no condition to move." Usanagi said, grimly. "I've identified the actual target of the bullet was his skull, but the distance between it and Ulysses, plus being able to go through the Lucky 38 window, slowed the impact. However it didn't get through clean. It split into fragments, two exited clean, three became lodged in his shoulder, one tore several muscles in his back and neck and then proceeded to exit."

"I didn't realize a Ratslayer could do so much. Hollow-Point rounds shouldn't be able to do that." Leon said.

"Ratslayer? A Ratslayer couldn't do this." Usanagi revealed. "Whatever weapon was used has at least the power of five Anti-Material Rifles, and the bullet wasn't Hollow-Point. It was specialy made, filled with some type of plasma, contained in a metal unlike anything i've ever seen before."

Usanagi watched emotion dissapate from Leon's face. "He said he wanted to speak to you." Leon walked ahead, knowing the Council was going to have to elect a new Sovereign.

* * *

Lucky 38-Penthouse

Sarah sat at the command console, speaking with several council members over Video Channels.

"This attack is an outrage!" Marcus yelled. "Only cowards attack a man in his home! The Minutemen have gone too far!"

"I know they want change in Vegas, but this is more direct then anything before." McNamara declared. "It seems like such a drastic shift in tactics."

"Terrorists are willing to go to any extent to achieve their goals." Arcade stated. "The mind of madmen are hard to understand."

"This attack cannot go unanswered for." Marcus said. "I will send any forces required to hunt the Minutemen."

"That would be unwise." McNamara declared. "The Minutemen are already a problem, we don't need mass panic from Super-Mutants raiding people's homes."

"And what would you have me do!? Wait until they are knocking on the Lucky 38's door!?" Marcus yelled.

"Calm down! All of you!" Sarah yelled. "The Minutemen's act of terrorism will be met with swift ferocity. But right now we face a leaderless New Vegas. No matter if Ulysses survives or not, we're left without someone to control the escalating situation. We need a leader now!"

Elder McNamara looked at her, knowing where she was going with this. "What do you propose?" He asked.

"We need a new Sovereign to get a handle on the situation." She said. "I nominate myself."

They all looked at her silently, unsure of what to do. Finally McNamara spoke up.

"We give you three days. If no other candidates step up, you will be given the powers of Sovereign." McNamara declared.

"What!?" Marcus yelled. "We can't turn our backs on the Courier!" Marcus was always a supporter of the Courier's regime.

"We've waited on the Courier long enough." McNamara declared. "This session is dismissed."

The Channel closed and Sarah looked to the shattered window.

"Who the hell is gutsy enough to do this?" She mumbled to herself.

* * *

Den of Crows

Funny enough, back in the Den of Crows, the Minutemen were wondering the same thing.

Bertrand and Craft both stood around a table, waiting for another man.

"Have you ever met this guy in person?" Craft asked.

"No." Bertrand replied. "I'm not even sure what he looks like."

"He's one of the few who's met the Executioner in person." Craft said. "Takes his orders straight from him."

"Quiet here he comes." Bertrand declared.

They looked at the slowly opening door. A man walked through looking at them. It was a face almost anyone in the Mojave Brotherhood of Steel would recognize.

Head Paladin Hardin.

He was wearing his usual Brotherhood Power Armor and wielding a Gauss Rifle. His face was grim and angered.

"Would someone like to tell me which one of you hotshots ordered that attack?" Hardin asked.

Bertrand and Craft looked at each other. "We... Didn't." Craft stated. "None of our men have received orders. We are still waiting to hear from Annex, but I doubt she would have done anything beyond her orders. Whoever attacked Ulysses is outside our ranks."

Hardin looked at him. "It's bad enough i'm working with NCR scum, now you're telling me you have no information?" Hardin asked, angrily. "You lose wars without knowledge."

"It may not be that bad." Bertrand said. Hardin immediately glared at him. "The New Vegas Confederacy is mainly preoccupied now, selecting a new leader and finding the assassin, giving Tania time to execute her orders."

"That doesn't fill me with confidence." Hardin said. "It will draw the Courier back to the region. Let us hope Downfall can be initiated before then."

* * *

Eastern Nevada

John was listening to the radio on his Pip-Boy, having rushed back across the border following his confrontation in Flagstaff. He was at an old gas station, shaving and cutting his hair, when a transmission came over Radio New Vegas. Mr. New Vegas made a quick remark before giving urgent news.

"Last night, an unifentified assassin attempted to kill Sovereign Ulysses in a surprise attack on the Lucky 38. We have confirmation this morning that while Ulysses has survived the attack, he has been rendered unable to lead, and the Confederacy Council has announced an election for a new Sovereign. Currently, Sarah Lyons is the only candidate in the race. As for the Identity of the attacker, not much is known except that he is believed to be operating with the Minutemen Insurrection. Currently, a task force lead by Leon Stinger is attempting to find and rout the Minutemen from the Mojave."

John dropped the razor, looking at the radio. He briefly looked down in disappointment before a sound came over the Pip-Boy. It said one thing at first: Sierra Madre Emergency Broadcast.

"This is Christine Royce, broadcasting on all open frequencies. Can you hear me? We are under attack by an unknown enemy. They've overrun the Villa, and our converging on the Casino. They have Dean captive and we are outgunned. They're destroying the Holograms, wiping out the Ghost People, we have never seen anything like it. Please I know you're out there. If you still care about anyone here, help- an explosion burst from behind and Christine's voice cut out."

John grabbed his Pip-Boy. "Christine? Christine, can you hear me?" John asked,

"You'd better hurry, Courier. This little doll may break before you get here." A sinister voice replied.

John responded with a question that sent chills up his spine.

"Preacher?" John asked, but was met with the sounds of static and silence.

John didn't hesitate any longer. He dashed out of the station, equipping his gear, and dashing for the signal's source.


	5. Sierra Madre Under Siege

Hello. Busy times. Election, Hurricane Sandy... Oh who am I kidding? I'm only intrested in a little game called Halo 4. (and Romney not winning, the day he wins is the day I move to a remote island and live with a Volleyball named Wilson) So for the next two weeks productivity will grind to a halt. Sorry to all enjoyed Resolution, just couldn't continue on it. If it makes you all feel better, tomorrow I will put up a new story in honor of Halo 4 (Hint#1: I put it up a while ago, then took it down in favor for this story. Hint#2: Ironically, it has nothing to do with Halo.)

* * *

CyberJordan: You guessed right. Nice one by the way, Minutemorons, that's clever.

Oddliver: I think you have that backwards. I don't find the Gauss Rifle as useful as it used to be in Fallout 3. (Though Fallout Tactics had a Gauss Minigun which was awesome)

Slovous: He is a slimy bastard. He always was, trying to usurp power from McNamara during the Courier's Supply Run's. Oh and here's your other poster.

Nick of the Watertribe: Yes, he did. Sarah's disregarding that due to the council giving up hope on the Courier. As for Cass, she simply can't lead due to her pregnancy being close to finished nor does she want to lead.

Exile037: Thank you. Glad people appreciate Preacher as a villain. As for Leon, I think you might be surprised how little he's changed for the better. You'll get a feel for that in the next chapters.

gonedie: Thanks. It's fine, just glad to know people read my stories.

* * *

Chapter 5

Sierra Madre Under Siege

John raced across the wasteland, wearing his Asssasin Suit and wielding a fully upgraded Holo-Rifle, tracing the source of the distress signal. He knew they wouldn't kill his freinds in the Madre, not while he was on his way. What surprised and scared him was that Preacher was alive. The last time John saw him, Preacher was begging him for mercy, while lying on smashed canisters of White Phosphorus. John had fired a shot and never looked back. Preacher nearly killed him once before, now he was back, alongside the full might of Supremacy One.

_This can't be happening._ John thought. _When Orion said we wouldn't see him for some time, I thought we would have years, not months. _John thought about the horrors Orion could utilize in the Sierra Madre, and knew if he didn't get there quick enough, Orion would weaponize the entire casino.

"Hang in there Christine." John mumbled as he ran. "I'm coming."

* * *

Sierra Madre

Christine, Dog, and Dean Domino were dragged from the Casino and thrown into the Villa. They were all on the ground, too weak to fight on.

Christine Royce looked up at the Villa, the place she called home for years. The Hologram Projectors were flashng red, the system flashing in and out, on and off. On the cold ground, Hundreds of Ghost People were lying dead, some had holes going straight through them, others were nothing but ash. She could hear the sounds of Energy Weapons discharging in the distance, lights and smoke rising out of the east, fires engulfing the west.

Suddenly, a massive battle-suit approached the downed Christine. She looked up. In front of her stood the hulking behemoth known as Preacher. He was different now, his half burned off face being the most notable difference. His armor was dented, burned, scarred, and semi-eviscerated.

She suddenly was picked up by the skull, Preacher's massive mechanical fingers placed firmly on both sides of her skull.

"You seem scared." Preacher said, a vicious mechanical voice echoing through the Madre. "Disappointing. Face your death with courage."

She looked into his helmet. "What... What the hell do you want?" Christine asked.

"I want to watch Utopia rise from the ashes of the world." Preacher declared. "You and all others are simple means to an end. Well, all except your Courier."

Christine's eyes widened. "What?" She asked, stunned. "How do you know him?"

He brought her close to his mangled face. "He did this to me." Preacher stated, blood and fury in his eyes. "He left me like this, I want to return the favor."

"Sir! The device is ready!" A soldier yelled, rolling up a strange looking device. It was a thick sphere, 5-feet in diameter. It was attached to four prongs, electrified and accelerating, aiming up at the sky.

"What is that thing?" Christine asked.

Preacher smiled murderously. "The beginning of the end."

The machine lit up with a crackle of lightning, the sounds of electricity lashing out. Suddenly, the sphere was fired into the air and into the cloud. It opened up like a flower blooming in spring, and began to do the unthinkable: Capture the Cloud. The clouds got thinner and thinner, even all of the Cloud settling on the ground was pulled into the machine.

Christine watched in horror and astoundment as the Cloud began to thin. "Are you insane!? You could kill millions with that!" Christine yelled.

"Exactly." Preacher declared, laughing sinisterly.

* * *

Christine wasn't the only one watching this horrifying sight. Across the blood red barrier, John watched from a distance as sunlight began to penetrate the barrier as it no longer touched the ground.

"Preacher... What have you done?" John asked himself. John dashed forward, fury in his eyes and pain in his mind. He ran as quick as he ran on the bridge in New York. He passed rocks and debris, most dyed red from the toxins of the Cloud. The device swallowed the Cloud as it began to lift the veil over the Casino. He reached the entrance and looked through the gates.

In the Fountain Villa, he saw at least six soldiers and Preacher on the ground. On the rooftops, there were at least ten soldiers, an extra five on the balconies and between the pillars.

Preacher looked down at Christine. "Well, I suppose you've outlived your usefulness." Preacher declared. He began to press his fingers against her skull, starting to crush her skull.

"Preacher!" John yelled. Preacher's head jolted at John. John fired several shots from the Holo-Rifle, two of which caused Preacher to drop Christine. The third killed the soldier near the device. Christine hit the ground and Dog grabbed her, pulling her out of the way of Preacher as he continued to march towards John.

"Courier. At long last." Preacher declared.

"Stand down, Preacher." John demanded. "We've done this before. You can't win."

"I think you should take note. You're outgunned and outnumbered." Preacher declared.

"Your soldiers don't scare me." John declared. "I could take them all."

"I was talking about me." Preacher declared. He charged forward. His hand suddenly retracted back into his armor and revealed the jagged remains of his blade. He slashed down at close range, and John jumped into the air avoiding the blow. He drew his Holo-Rifle and fired into Preachers face. Preacher stumbled backwards, but he knew where John would land and thrashed him, grabbing him and throwing him against the gates.

John pulled himself to his feet, his mechanical leg frame still operational. Preacher drove forward like a bull, pulling two modified Missile Launchers from his back, extra ammo storage drums attached, and wielding them like Pistols. John ducked between pillars and cover as Missiles rained down on him. Preacher reloaded and John opened fired. He disarmed one of the Missile Launchers. It slid across the open streets of the Madre.

John fired several more shots before diving back into cover. Prreqcher fired several more Missiles. As John prepared to move to another cover when he heard the familiar sound of a missile. He crashed to the ground as it hit; Preacher wasn't out of ammunition.

Preacher stomped forward to the downed Courier.

John looked up at Preacher. He couldn't reach the Holo-Rifle.

"Time to die, Courier." Preacher declared. As he prepared to fire, a missile hit him in the back. Preacher screamed in pain. He turned to see Dog, wielding the Missile Launcher John knocked out of Preacher's hand. John grabbed the Holo-Rifle and fired a burst of shot into Preacher's head. John jumped to his feet and Dog continued to press his attack. John joined in the attack.

Preacher began to fall backwards from the barrage of weapons fire. Finally, he fell through a brick wall and collapsed to the ground.

John looked at Preacher and was enraged when all he saw was a smile on his face.

"Fools... You have changed... nothing." Preacher declared. Suddenly the full light of the sun beamed down on the Sierra Madre. The machine had engulfed the Cloud and teleported away, alongside the entire platoon. "Utopia...draws...near..." Preacher declared. He let out one last gasp of air and died. John shot him in the head multiple times with a Hunting Shotgun from his inventory to ensure he was dead this time.

He ran over to Christine and Dean. Dog helped up Dean while Christine got up and hugged John closely.

"You always have to be the Calvary, don't you?" She asked. "Ride in at the last second and save everyone."

"For once I'm glad for his sense of dramatic timing." Dean commented. "How have you been, Hollister?"

"Been better." John declared.

"Who were those people?" Dog asked.

John looked around at the damage. "I'll explain later. Come on we need to get out of here."

"Where are we suppose to go?" Christine asked.

"Back to Big MT." John declared.

Christine's eyes widened. "What? Why the hell would we do that?" Christine asked.

John didn't respond with words at first, he instead played one of the Audio Logs between Ulysses and Christine. Tears rolled to her eyes, hearing her actual voice again, even more so hearing Ulysses. John looked at her, and held her as she cried. He could tell it brought back painful memories. She still didn't know that John was the Courier that Ulysses had pursued.

He looked at her eyes. "The facility is mine, I control it now." John declared. "The Think Tank and Dr. Mobius won't hurt you. Okay?" He asked softly, knowing the pain she had endured in Big MT. Christine nodded her head. "Alright. Hang on." The group huddled together as John pulled out the Transportalponder. In a flash they were gone. It had never crossed their minds to check and make sure the Vault still held it's prisoners, living and dead.

* * *

Supremacy Central

The Devil's Guard returned to find a surprise.

"Lord Orion?" The temporary commander asked, surprised at their leader's presence. "It's an honor, sir. What do you require?"

Orion's mechanical eyes moved under his plated mask. He looked breifly at the sphere, then at the other soldier, and back at the commander. "I assume your mission was a success." Orion presumed.

"Yes sir. We captured every trace of the compound from within the Sierra Madre." The commander stated.

"I also assume Preacher did not survive." Orion declared, looking at the abscence of the hulking giant.

"No. We had interference from the Courier." The commander said, reluctantly. Orion's eyes widened. "He intervened and saved the others. They killed Preacher."

Orion's sick smile became sinister. "In that case, you have no reason to continue existing." None of the Devil's Guard even had a chance to flle or defend themselves, Orion slaughtered them all like animals with his disintegrator.

Orion activated his communicator while standing on top of the bodies. Archangel. Send word to our assassin. His mission was successful. Then terminate him."

"Anything else?" Archangel asked.

"Activate your body and ready a Vertibird." He replied.

"Is it time?" She asked, excitedly.

"Yes. The Dark Crucible rises again."


	6. Unbreakable and Unforgettable

Hello. I know I said productivity would grind to a halt but hey I had some spare time. Surprisingly.

Oh, and one last thing...

Halo 4 is Game of the Year. No question.

* * *

CyberJordan: I can only reply with this: MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oddliver: That trick never worked for me. Instead, I found a glitch where I can drop the gold behind the forcefield where Elijah is standing. I then went through the whole battle, killed Elijah, escaped the Vault, and took the gold. I only left Elijah alive once, and that was simply to hear his rants as he suffered in the Vault. The bastard deserved it.

Slovous: It seemed appropriate seeing where this story is.

Exile07: That was what I was shooting for. Glad he left that impression.

Nick of the Watertribe: Yeah. Big time.

sonicbullet534: It may not be war to them. To Orion, it's fate.

* * *

Chapter 6

Unbreakable and Unforgettable

Leon stood in the halls of the Brotherhood Bunker, under orders from Ulysses. When he had met him, Ulysses could barely speak, his lungs heavily damaged and some glass had cut one of his vocal cords. While he was healing, at the time he could only make out a few words, but they were enough.

"You have full command...of the Old World Guard...destroy the Minutemen...with extreme prejudice." That was what Ulysses had told him. These Brotherhood Scribes watched him with suspicion and hatred, some calling him deserter and traitor. He ignored them as he made his way to the Research and Devolpment Section of the Bunker. They had been building some upgrades for his augmentations. He walked around the corner of the scribes wing and entered the room. Their was the usual broken weapons and devices scattered across the tables, but on the back table was new equipment.

"Ah, Leon." A voice said from behind. Leon turned to see Torres.

"Knight Torres, I presume?" Leon asked, having never actually met her in person. He despised setting foot into this bunker.

"Yes. It's good to meet you." Torres said, shaking his hand. "Follow me." Leon walked with her to the back table.

"All right, here's what we were developing for the Reinforced Steel Program." Torres began to explain.

"Reinforced Steel?" Leon asked.

Torres looked at him. "It was a program designed by Lost Hills, and later us, to develop advanced soldiers, using Cybernetic and Biological Augmentation. Most died due to complications from the Biological Augmentations. Those that survived were scarred and insane. We ended up being forced to mercy-kill them." Leon looked at her with very little change in his facial expression. "That won't happen to you. We are simply upgrading your existing Augmentations."

Leon's eyes crossed hers. "I didn't come this far for safety." Leon grabbed her hand in anger. "Do what you must." Leon declared. Torres was suprised at his anger. She had heard how unstable and heartless he was, now it was evident.

"All right." She said. Torres reached down to the table. All of the devices on it were Pitch-Black Reinforced Titanium and Neon Orange Lights. "This is Hyper-Cabling." She began to explain the strange wiring in her hands. "It will increase your speed, force, strength, and accuracy, giving you an edge on the battlefield." She put down the wiring then grabbed another device. It was some type of weapon on a strap.

"Phosphorus Cannon." She wrapped the strap around her wrist, aimed at the wall, clinched her fist and set the wall ablaze with a blue flame. Useful for close quarters combat and crowd control. She placed the cannon down and then proceeded to grab one more smaller device. She held it up close to him.

"This is a Micro-Explosives Deployer. When active. It releases a swarm of small machines that explode on contact. Makes for a good lethal diversion, or good in wine if your into the dramatic approach."

She placed down the device and looked at him. "What do you think?" She asked.

"Interesting." Leon stated with some disdain. What are the rest of these?

"Careful." Torres said, as Leon looked at the machine parts. "Those are prototypes, not fully tested, nor will they ever be. We can't equip them to you. You're still mostly human, it would kill you."

Leon's anger rose up again. "What in the hell made you think I careabout what happened to me?" He snarled. "My life isn't exactly valuable to me. My freinds and family are all dead." Leon continued to flare up. "Do whatever it takes, any extra augmentations, synthetic limbs, I don't care, just don't undersell me." Leon's fiery eyes burned into Torres soul.

She swallowed hard. "We'll prep you for surgery immediately." Torres went over to the intercom. "This is Knight Torres to Senior Scribe Schuler."

"Go ahead." Linda Schuler's voice responded.

"I've got Leon Stinger down here. He's demanding full augmentation, prototype's and all. Ulysses has given him complete access."

The intercom went silent for a minute. "Send him up. If Ulysses trusts him, then I will as well." She replied.

"Got it." Torres replied. She looked back at Leon. "Come on. Medical is this way."

Leon grabbed the augmentations and followed her. He smiled, sinisterly, knowing that he would survive the augmentations, and come out stronger then the Courier himself.

* * *

Big MT-Sink Overlook

In a flash of light, the team was no longer in the Madre, rather back in Big MT. John adn Christine looked through the sheild towards the blue skies in the air and the ruined facility on the ground, while Dean and Dog looked towards the ruins, having never been here before.

Christine looked to the north to see that the facility was no longer dormant. The Massive Saturnite Mines were being manned by upgraded Walking-Eyes, while smoke was rising out of the new and improved Securitron Factory. Other things were activated, proving the Big MT was now a War Factory.

"Come on. Let's head inside." John said, putting his hand on her shoulder.

She looked at him, then back out at the facility that had given her nightmares.

Hesitantly, she followed him in.

They entered the Sink where they were met with the buzzing voices of an entire town.

"Sir? Is that you? My word sir, we haven't seen you for months, how have you been?" The CIU asked, surprisingly happy. "Ulysses has been looking for you, he wanted to talk to you about returning to Vegas."

While John talked to the CIU, the group explored the Sink.

Dean made his way to the Kitchen, Dog sat on the couch in the Living Room, and Christine made her way to the Courier's Bedroom.

* * *

Dean looked through the fridge, searching for any Alcohol. He got up, unable to find any only to hear the Kitchen Sink shriek.

"Dear Lord! Do you have any sense of cleanliness!? My word, you are truly disgusting!" The Kitchen Sink yelled.

"I don't have much choice in the matter, sweetie." Dean stated in his suave voice.

"I could use you for fertilizer, man." The Biological Research Station stated.

Dean simply stood silently for a minute, before spotting Scotch on the Kitchen Table.

* * *

Christine looked through the bedroom lockers, searching for a weapon. She could never be too careful here. That's when she opened the last locker and inside found something that shocked her: Her old Recon Armor and Suppressor Rifle. She looked at it closely, it had been cleaned, repaired, and reinforced. She grabbed the Supressor Rifle, to find it had also been repaired, the old rusty parts replaced, with shiny, new, steel. The weapon was now stabilized, the silencer more effective, and it had a fully loaded clip.

"He did that for someone." A small voice said.

She turned around to see a small securitron. "Who are you?" She asked.

"You don't know me!? For the love of...! Oh... Sorry. I can be a little angry at times." It replied, calming down. "I'm Muggy." It said, holding out it's small hand.

Christine shook it, then looked at him. "You said he kept this for someone..."

"Oh... Right. Yeah he kept that for a freind of his, said that it was hers." Muggy continued. "The CIU repaired them, and John said that if she ever came back, it would be waiting for her."

Christine couldn't believe it. The Courier had kept these, all those years she was in the Sierra Madre, he had kept these here. She took off her Sierra Madre Security Armor, and fit her Recon Armor back on. It was strange, it didn't feel any different then it had six years ago. She picked up her Suppressor Rifle, aiming towards the wall.

"You look great." John's voice surprised her. She turned and saw him standing in the doorway, smiling.

Christine walked up to him and held him, tearing up as she did. It was hard on her remembering her life before the Madre.

They sat down on the bed and began catching up. From the Divide to Hoover Dam, to more recent years, such as the Exodus of the Capital Wastelanders, and the Daybreak War. It was all a little hard to take in for her. The last time

Then while they were speaking, John looked down at the bed, and saw something: The package Reaper had given Leon.

"What is that?" Christine asked.

John picked it up and looked at the letter attached. It read: On the blood of our fathers, on the blood of our sons.

John opened the package, and inside lay something on a chain.

John looked at what was on the end of it for a moment, then grasped his skull in agony.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He was having a memory flash.

Christine grabbed him as he crashed to the ground in absolute pain. As Dog and Dean ran in to help him, Christine looked at the object. She was shocked at what it was:

A Brotherhood of Steel Holotag. It read: Knight Commander Solomon Hollister. Status: Terminated.


	7. A Few Good Men

Hello. Sorry for the longer waits between chapters, still trying to get into the feel of writing new stories, plus I've been busy, so hope you enjoy.

Oh, and I know I ended last chapter on the Courier's side of the story. Sorry to say, he won't show up during this chapter. However, he will appear in the next chapter.

* * *

CyberJordan: They did. Leon has essentially become the Master to John's Doctor (If I may put this into Doctor Who terms) I also pulled a page from your book (Not literally) Your going to love this.

Oddliver: I don't like it when characters redeem themselves like they can just be forgiven for thier actions. As you'll see soon enough, Leon enjoys every bit of power he gets.

Slovous: Leon is looking at Insanity in the rear view mirror. He can hide it, but when it surfaces... Watch out. Be ready to sink ever further. (Don't Worry, your posters will follow.)

Nick of the WaterTribe: I can answer this now, becuase it doesn't really spoil anything: No, he will never be in his right state of mind ever again.

Exile037: Leon knows, he just doesn't care. John is enhanced internally versus Leon being augmented externally. (Notice I used enhanced for the Courier instead of augmented like the Lone Wanderer) I'm sorry to say, but Leon won't have a romance this story. He doesn't care about anything like that anymore, he's lost his humanity, and he doesn't care to have it back.

sonicbullet534: All I can say is that you're Close. PERSONAL REPLY: I've been a fan since Halo 1.

* * *

Chapter 7

A Few Good Men

Brotherhood Bunker-Medical Wing

Leon's eyes slowly opened, he looked up at the faces of Linda Schuler, Knight Torres, and several Brotherhood Medical Staff. He felt his body slowly waking up with the rest of him. Schuler was obviously surprised. He had survived the augmentations, and so far had not had any complications.

"Leon? Can you here me?" Schuler asked.

He blinked once and nodded. He sat up from the medical cot and looked at them.

"Did it work?" He asked, weakly.

"See for yourself." Schuler stated, handing him a mirror. He looked at his face and immediately saw massive differences. The previously grey mechanical half of his face was now pitch black, his red eye now orange irises with black whites. The still human part of his face was nearly gone, the same black titaium now covering his entire head in a light black coating. The part of his face that still showed flesh now had several long, jagged, red-neon scars running the length of his face. His still organic eye had been similarly replaced with the same design as his other eye. He smiled at the upgrades, almost cherishing his loss of humanity.

He looked down at his human arm and saw the changes their as well. The Cabling ran through his arm, glowing under his skin with a faint crimson light. His hand and wrist replaced with a similar synthetic gauntlet, merging into the rest of his arm. His synthetic arm upgraded the same way as the rest of his body.

He stood up and felt his legs shift. He looked down at his legs and saw that from his knees down similar upgrades were made. All in all, he felt incredible. The power he had was amazing. Now he wanted to test it.

He grabbed his Outcast Recon Armor, a memento of the Capital Wasteland. He wore it now to signify his status as the Outcast of the Brotherhood, the Lone Wanderer from the Capital Wasteland. He had kept all Outcast gear he had come across in the Capital Wasteland. In truth, he was always closer to them then the Brotherhood of Steel.

"What do you think your doing?" Schuler asked.

"Leaving." Leon replied.

"What?" Schuler asked, angrily.

"The Minutemen are still out there. I need a team." Leon replied.

"You can't leave." Schuler declared. "We don't know what those machines could do if you use them. They could kill you."

"I'm sorry, at what point did I act like I cared?" Leon left them all speechless. He left the bunker to assemble his team.

* * *

Jacobstown

Fawkes stood inside Doctor Henry's Lab, coming in for a weekly discussion with Doctor Henry. Since the evacuation of the Capital Wasteland, he had been living in Jacobstown. Having been the only intelligent Super-Mutant in the Capital Wasteland besides Uncle Leo, he was surprised to find how many Intelligent Super-Mutants they're were in the Mojave. He felt at home in Jacobstown, and often had many intelligent discussions with Doctor Henry.

Fawkes sat down at the table with Henry. Fawkes placed a Chess Board on the table, and he made the first move. It was some time later, Fawkes still had his queen, knights, one bishop, six pawns, and his king, when Doctor Henry lost.

"Nicely done." Henry replied, shaking the Mutants hand. The Remnants were no more, now they all were living out there remaining days. All except Daisy Whitman. During a Minutemen raid on Novac, she was killed, alongside several other citizens, for simply helping a man off the ground.

Henry walked out of the room for a moment while Fawkes reset the board.

"Hello, Fawkes." Leon's voice was easy to pinpoint. Fawkes turned and looked at his former friend.

"Hello, Leon." Fawkes replied, somewhat irritated to see him.

"What? No red carpet?" Leon asked, sarcastically.

Fawkes was unamused. "Why are you here?" Fawkes asked.

"Come on, you can't take the time to see an old friend?" Leon asked, acting like a smart-alec.

"No!" Fawkes yelled, smashing his fist on the table. "You are no longer my friend or ally, Leon. You broke your most important promise to me: You let vengeance and hatred consume you. Ten years ago you were a Messiah, now you are the Devil himself!" Fawkes declared, referring to Leon's heartless actions over the years.

Fawkes looked into Leon's mechanical eyes, with Leon still looking him down. "It was Amata, Fawkes." Leon declared. "Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same."

Fawkes was about to speak, but then decided against it. He waited for a moment before Leon gave an answer to Fawkes question.

"I'm assembling a team to bring down the Minutemen Insurrection." Leon explained.

Fawkes looked at him, now intrested. "An act of redemption?" Fawkes asked.

"Something like that." Leon responded.

"How many?" Fawkes continued.

"Four. Including myself and you." Leon became serious, his face hardened, his emotions cold.

Fawkes looked at Leon's upgrades and his expression. He gave his offer some thought, unsure of how to deal with this new Leon.

"All right." Fawkes finally declared. "I'll help you. But know this: You do anything that goes too far, I will kill you without hesitation."

"I'd like to see you try. Let's go." Leon said, smugly.

Fawkes walked out, hesitantly, alongside Leon. He left a farewell note to Doctor Henry before they left Jacobstown.

* * *

Goodsprings

The next man on Leon's list was slightly more difficult to find. He didn't have any permanent place of residence, so tracking him down would be a challenge. They finally tracked him down in Goodsprings.

Leon opened the door to the Saloon. He walked in and looked around. Cheyenne barked in the corner, Trudy was serving drinks; the saloon was packed. Following the formation of the New Vegas Confederacy, Goodsprings had become a major travel location, Primm's destruction at the hands of Supremacy One only assisted in that regard.

Leon walked up to the bar. Trudy walked up to him immediately.

"What do you want, Stinger?" Trudy asked.

He pulled up a photo on his Pip-Boy. "Have you seen him?"

Trudy studied the photo for a minute. "Xander? Yeah, why?"

Leon was surprised she knew him by name. "We need to talk to him." Leon stated. "Where is he?"

Trudy's eyes darted from side to side. "You may be out of luck. Xander usually hangs out around the Primm Ruins..."

"We'll head there then."

Leon prepared to walk away but Trudy stopped him. "Until recently. He bought a large amount of supplies from Chet, paid off his tab here, and left."

"Did he say where he was going?" Leon asked, becoming irritated.

"No. All Xander said was that he was going where his world ended."

Leon knew now where they had to go. "Thank you."

He walked away, giving Trudy time to take a breath. The entire Mojave knew the stories behind the Lone Wanderer, and all feared to cross his path.

As Leon left the Saloon, Fawkes was waiting on the outside. "Where are we going now?" Fawkes asked.

"Change of plans, our last man is further out then we thought. We're going to pick up our fourth member before heading in his direction."

"And who's that?" Fawkes asked.

"Vanessa Franks."

* * *

McCarran Barracks

Leon and Fawkes were let into this place with realitive ease, albiet some difficulty letting Fawkes in. As they entered the barracks, they quickly encountered the newest additions to the New Vegas Military: The Desert Rangers. Having left the NCR following the Mojave Attacks, but before the rise of the Revolutionist Federation, their Black Ranger Combat Armor was now a symbol of New Vegas's freedom.

On the far end of the Barracks, the banner of New Vegas, a spade with a 21 sown into a crimson fabric, was hung on the wall. Below it, the motto of the New Vegas Confederacy: New World Hope.

Leon looked down at the beds, all the rangers watching him with suspicion. Finally he came across Vanessa.

Franks. Leon said. Vanessa looked up from her bunk, looking into Leon's eyes. She immediately jumped to her feet, Marksman Carbine at the ready. Sir!

At ease. Leon said.

Yes Sir. She said.

I need you for a special mission. Are you willing to kill a few Minutemen? Leon asked.

Hell Yes Sir. Vanessa declared, a smile across her face.

Good. Grab what you need and meet us outside at the Vertibirds. Leon declared, glad it didn't take much convincing. He walked out of the barracks with Fawkes towards the Vertibirds. Vanessa grabbed her equipment and met them out there. Within minutes, they took a Vertibird and set a course for their last man.

* * *

The Nest (Former Settlement of the Sparrows)-Eastern Utah

That man was Xander Nicholas. He was African-American, around six feet tall, lighter skin. A soul patch on his face. He had a tattoo on his arm, a Sparrow, a symbol of his tribe. He was a mercenary and a killer, having lost his parents in a raider attack, he had been raised as a proud warrior of the Sparrows, a tribe that had refused the rule of the Legion when part of Utah was in the hands of those animals. When the Sparrows were destroyed, Xander escaped.

In the days before the assault, he had discovered where his parents had come from: His mother was from New Arroyo, his father the lone survivor of Vault 11. He had gone to the Confederacy after it formed, and had asked the Courier for help in reclaiming Utah. John had admired the courage he had shown, walking up to the leader of a nation without fear, and asked him who he was. He explained his situation, and revealed that he had discovered his lineage when he had met a familiar face: Village Elder Cyrus Samson, Chosen One of Arroyo. John agreed to assist him, having already made a similar promise to Joshua Graham. The Courier's armies marched across Utah, disbanded the Warlords, decimated the 80's tribe, and eventually, started a brief conflict with a group of Legion Deserters. The Deserters were abandoned by Lanius, who knew that the Confederacy held a section of territory within Utah, and would no doubt seize the rest.

Xander himself remained in the Confederacy afterwards, deciding that he could find plenty of adventure and purpose there. When the Capital Wastelanders arrived, the Confederacy began having to fortify the far east, in case of the Legion being opportunistic, and the Sparrows Village burst to life again. More specifically, just outside the Village, Fort Law was built, a major trading and military outpost on the Legion Border. The Village was untouched, a memorial to the warriors who had once inhabited it.

Xander had come to pay respects to his people. To be honest their wasn't much left, it was a village of cinders and fiery ash. He stood, wearing his Merc Grunt outfit, and a Black Jacket on his back. Some would call his appearance and personality unique or strange, the drastic difference in his features, but to Xander it was normal. He wore it with pride.

He had on his back was the All-American, a marksman crabine he had taken from John's Armory, partially without him knowing. When he had arrived at the Confederacy he had nothing but a spear. Now, he wore the scars and wielded the weapons of a warrior.

He stood in the ashes of the village, placing carvings on the ruins. They all had different emblems, each representing the people lost to the Legion.

Suddenly, he heard the sounds of the Vertibird as it approached. Xander turned and looked to the skies. The Vertibird set down just six feet in front of him.

Leon walked out of the Vertibird. He looked down at Xander, disdain in his eyes.

"Well, look at this. The Bumblebee graces me with his presence." Xander declared.

Leon sneered. He didn't much care for Xander, and cared even less for people making fun of his last name. Butch had learned that the hard way years ago. However, when it came down to having Xander on his team or tracking down the Courier, the choice was obvious.

"Smart mouthed as ever I see." Leon declared.

"And Lacking Humanity as always... I see." Xander replied. "What do you want?"

"What do you know about the Minutemen?" Leon asked.

"Just the gritty details everyone else does. Terrorists, Extremists obsessed with destroying the Courier. Basically you... Just completely over the edge." Xander smirked, Leon just rolled his eyes.

"Good you know enough. I'm taking a team to fight them." Leon stated. "I need you."

Xander smiled. "The great Lone Wanderer is coming to me for help. I never thought this day would come."

Leon was sick of this. "Are you joining or not?" Leon asked, irritated.

"That depends." Xander replied.

"Depends on what?" Leon asked.

"Are you stable enough to lead?" Xander responded.

Leon looked at him. "Yes." He replied, somewhat hesitantly.

"Let's go then. The Minutemen won't wait for us." Xander declared.

Leon and Xander boarded the Vertibird. It lifted off and headed back to Vegas. In the distance, someone was watching them.

They pulled out a radio. "This is Vice. I've got visual, they are en-route back to Vegas." Something came through the radio. "He's not with them." Another mumble over the radio. "No. It doesn't appear they do."

This time the transmission came through loud and clear. Three words were uttered: "Do they know?"

"No."

There was radio silence. Then a response came through. "Ensure it remains that way. We cannot allow them to prevent Downfall. Understood?"

"Yes sir."

"The Executioner is a valuable ally. I do not want to lose him. The same goes for Hannibal, and even those Imperial Kahns. When this is done head north and support them."

"On your orders, Major. Hail to the Revolutionist Federation."


	8. Supremacy Awakens

Hello. Still trapped in Halo 4. Prometheans are an absolute menace on any difficulty, but Legendary... Needless to say, my head is still pulsating. Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: Pretty Much. Fawkes is more or less their to hold Leon at bay. He knows how dangerous Leon is.

Oddliver: Autocorrect, right? Yes, he is far from stable.

Nick of the WaterTribe: I will say it will focus on Carthage. Nothing more out of fear of spoilers.

Exile037: Thank you.

* * *

Chapter 8

Awakening Supremacy

Big MT

John was out cold for days. Christine, Dog, and Dean had placed him in his bed and waited. They all would wait forever if he didn't wake up. John just lay there, out cold, for a moment he believed he was dead, then he saw things.

He saw a young girl, a familiar girl, maybe four years old, running through the Fields of the Brahmin Circles, the region of the NCR he once called home. He felt himself watch another familiar little boy, same age as the girl, run after her. He recognized the young boy: Himself. He knew the girl as well, but he couldn't put his finger on who it was. Suddenly, a woman called out.

"John! Katrina! Come on, it's time to go home!" She called out.

Katrina Hollister. His twin sister. That's who she was. He couldn't tell who the other voice was. Suddenly, there was a flash, and now he was standing on a hill. It must have been years later, because he did recognize this: The NCR-Brotherhood War. He watched as Power-Armored Giants marched through the fields he played in as a child, starting an inferno of flames that burned into his very soul. He saw himself, must have been eighteen at the time, as he ran home.

The Brotherhood marched forward as the NCR moved to counter throught the smoke and the ashes. John ran over one hill to find his hometown in flames; the Brotherhood had gotten here first.

He ran through the streets as Energy and Bullets raced through the air. A Paladin tried to stop him as he ran towards his home, but John ran forward and broke his neck with a well placed kick to the throat, killling him instantly. Even then he was a force to be reckoned with.

He reached his home to find fires rising. He broke down the door, and looked into burning home made of wood and steel. He ran towards the living room and found Katrina laying on the ground. He couldn't hear what she was saying as the younger version of himself pulled Katrina up. As they moved to leave, wreckage fell on them, he fell backwards, but Katrina was dead. He didn't have time to mourn, he held in tears as he ran. He reached the outside and began heading east. Before he did, however, he saw something in the town. A man, slightly older then him, gun at his head, the same Holotag hanging from his neck. The strange thing was that it was the Brotherhood who were executing him. The man looked at the young John and nodded for him to run. He heard a gunshot as he fled. The Holotag flashed red as the fires destroyed the town.

* * *

Suddenly, he woke in Big MT with a gasp of air, like he had just awoken from a nightmare. Christine heard him wake and looked down at him as he got up, panting and sweating from the nightmarish memories.

"Calm down. It's okay." Christine said. He looked at her, his memories putting themselves back together at last.

"I remember." John declared.

"Remember what?" Christine asked.

John was still disoriented but he knew what he saw. "The fires, the war."

"What are you talking about?" Christine asked.

"The bullet from when I was shot in the head." John declared. "It acted like an eraser, took away everything I ever knew. When I see something from my past, something from my life before Goodsprings, I have a memory flash. John explained. Memories come back, but it hurts, more then anything it hurts."

Christine put her hand on his shouler as his memories came back, concerned for his mental health. Is any of it clear? She asked.

"Not much. They're cryptic, never a clear message, it's usually anything related to the item or person." John looked at the Holotag. "One thing made itself clear, though: I had a family."

Christine was surprised to hear what this, all she had known about the Courier, and all he had known about himself, none of it had pointed to him ever having a family. "Who's Soloman?" Christine finally got out the question out.

John looked at the Holotag. "I don't know." John replied. "It was the truth, it wasn't abundantly clear who Solomon was, he was someone important to the Courier, family for sure, but other then that there was nothing. He grabbed the red holotag and looked at it. It constantly flashed Deceased. This was all confusing for him, but then he remembered why he had come here."

"How long have I been out?" John asked Christine.

"Two Days, give or take a few hours." Christine declared.

"Has anything changed?" John asked, now focusing back on the threat of Supremacy One.

"Not that we've noticed. They haven't made a move." Christine declared.

John stood up and looked down the hall. "Then let's hope that luck holds out." He got up, the mechanized frame around his legs malfunctioning from his recent combat efforts. He walked into the sink and looked at the Auto-Doc.

"Auto? Are you online?" He asked.

"Yeah, what do you need?" Auto replied.

"Has Project Alpha completed those Implants I requested?"

"Yes, they tested them and ran them. They work, but their have been some complications." Auto announced.

"I need them installled." Now. John demanded.

"Are you sure?" Auto asked. "Those complications weren't minor."

"I don't care. Supremacy One is back, I'm not letting Orion win again." John declared, confidence and determination in his voice.

"All right. Hop in." The door opened and John stepped in. Christine just watched as the door closed and the Auto-Doc turned on.

* * *

London, England

Orion flew overhead alongside a mechanized Archangel. Her body consisted of a metallic face, smooth and curved to represent a young female face. The same distinct features as a human being, and all the joints and muscles for it. However, she earned the name Archangel, for instead of flying in the Vertibird, she flew with long silver wings, a flash in the skies above the city, and gliding like a hawk. Orion stood in the Vertibird, having an autopilot device for flight.

They flew above the ruins of a ghoul filled London, the ruins of Big Ben in the distance, over a nearly completely vaporized River Thames. The Vertibird landed six feet from Supremacy Three's main base, a massive complex built in the ruins, constructed out of steel and stone. Outside of the main entrance, two Supremacy Three Guards stood. They wore standard Supremacy Armor, but with a green S3 on their backs.

Orion and Archangel landed and walked forward. The soldiers were surprised to see Orion. They bowed in honor of their messiah.

"Lord Orion. Welcome." One of the soldiers said. "Your arrival is unexpected, should I contact Director Chance?"

"Yes. Open your Communications. I wish to speak to him myself." Orion demanded.

The soldier responded, activating a Hologram projector. The bitter face of an old man appeared on the screen.

"Orion? Is that you?" He asked. Orion nodded. "Welcome my lord. Is there something you need?"

"Yes there is, Director Chance. Tell your men to rejoice: the hour is finally at hand, Utopia is upon us."

Chance's face lit up like a christmas tree. "Yes my lord. I shall do so at once." The hologram vanished and the soldiers entered the base to help spread the news. Orion and Archangel waited outside.

"They have no idea, do they brother?" Archangel asked, now fully free of the Silhouette Board Programming and A.I shackles. "You've truly convinced them there will be a Utopia."

"Let's not test our luck, sister. They may have surveillance." Orion declared. "Ready the weapon and prepare to flood the base."

Archangel responded by grabbing two canisters from the Vertibird, a familiar red mist inside. She walked forward, hiding her wings. They entered the base, they took separate routes, she made her way to the ventilation and air filter systems, while Orion made his way to the Main Hall, where Supremacy Three gathered.

When Orion entered the Main Hall, applause filled the room. They all honored him like a earth-bound messiah, a hero of the earth and all it encompasses. He walked forward to see Chance standing in the front of the a large mosaic decorating the wall.

"Welcome My Lord. Would you care for some wine?" Chance asked. None of them, not even the late Silhoette Board actually knew what he was, they believed that his metal skin was armor.

"Not particularly." Orion replied. He looked down on the officers and the soldiers standing below them.

"Friends, Family, Loyal soldiers and officers. Over the past two-hundred years we have lived in a wasteland, desecrated by radiation, fire, mutated creatures, monstrosities, and savages. Our goal from the beginning was to liberate the Earth from those scourges. For two-hundred years, we had worked in the shadows, manipulating, plotting, and deciving. We triggered the Vault Dweller's first venture, we provoked the Enclave's return, and so much more. We thought we had played our cards right, until the Courier rose to counter us. A man who didn't fit into our plans. He believed he had stopped us, but in reality he had only barely slowed us down. When he destroyed the Faction, he gave us our route to Utopia. Now only one obstacle remains: You."

On que, a modified Cloud filled the room and began poisoning Supremacy Three. There suits locked up, suffocating and poisoning the soldiers from the inside. Any exposed skin began disintegrating on contact. This Cloud had been modified to kill anything and leave no evidence, even Ghost People if the situation arose.

As Director Chance died behind him, Orion disintegrated anyone still alive. Archangel entered the room, and she looked at him. "I have located Lazarus."

* * *

They walked deep into the Catacombs beneath the main base. In the base of the depths, stood a large sqaure cube, consisting entirely of black. Orion walked forward and put his hand on the cube. The ground shuttered, the earth shook, the cube opened into smaller cubes as it began to open. Orion watched as the contents of the cube were revealed. Armor plates fell off what was inside, revealing Lazarus. He was another A.I, but his body was much different then the others. Instead of being a mechanical human, he was a mechanical skeleton, no eyes, no ears, no nose, just the silver husk of a mechanized skeleton. Joints and bone were all that existed in Lazarus's frail body.

He looked up from the ground, unable able to see.

"Orion... Is that you?" The A.I asked in a weak, shaky, hurt voice.

Orion kneeled to his weakened brethren. "Yes. I'm here brother."

"They experimented on me... the savages experimented on me..." Lazarus said, fearfully. Orion's grade of A.I were some of the few who could actually feel emotions. "Striped me clean and dry... you told me I could lead them..."

Orion held the fearful Lazarus close to him. "I was wrong about the humans, brother. I didn't know what they were capable of doing. They turned on all of us but myself, I kept my true nature hidden." Orion declared.

Lazarus tightend his grip on Orion. "Did you kill them? Please tell me they're dead." Lazarus demanded.

Orion nodded. "Yes. Supremacy Three is dead." Orion declared, feeling his brothers pain. "The rest will suffer the same fate."

Lazarus tried to stand up. "They took the blueprints. Lazarus said, shakly standing up on his skeletal feet.

"I know, but that proved to work in our favor. They mass produced the components. But we need the remaining keys to initiate Utopia." Orion stated. "Do you still have yours?"

Lazarus regained balance. "Yes... It's in my suit. Inside that... prison."

Archangel quickly moved inside and grabbed the key. She threw it to Orion. She dug further and found the suit. It had a thick titanium chest plate, large plates of titanium on it's arms and legs, while and a helmet that wrapped around his head and formed a firm shield around his skull. Lazarus quickly had it attached and acitvated it's mapping sensors, allowing him to see in a sort of data stream. There was no color, but he saw his family.

"You've both changed." He said, looking at them.

"Yes we have." Orion declared. "We're going to awaken the rest of the Dark Crucible. The rest of the family."

"Does this mean..?" Lazarus asked.

"Yes. The Last Revolution has begun."


	9. Blood on the Colorado River

Hello. Back in the writing mood, figured i'd get one more chapter out before Thanksgiving. As a little heads up this a slightly darker chapter, so be prepared. Happy Holidays!

* * *

CyberJordan: Thank you, I wanted to go somewhere new. As for Orion, you may not want to compare him and the others to Eden or CABAL. Other than being a crazed villian he is nothing like them. He didn't evolve from a basic computer, he was like this from the beginning. He was designed to think, act, and be human, but with all the machine abilities. That alone is his greatest weapon.

Oddliver: Sure I can see that. England would be a good spot for a Fallout game.

Slovous: You should feel bad for Lazarus. Believe it or not it was far more sad when I originally wrote that part. I rewrote it because I didn't want to cross the rating boundary.

Nick of the Watertribe: It was modified to be lethal regardless of what you were and what you had. It would have even killed the Ghost People had they inhaled it.

Exile037: All I can say: If war doesn't change, men have to change

Nukeman: Very Evil. Hence Fawkes's description of him being the Devil.

sonicbullet354: I'm sorry you feel that way, but that's how it will go. I designed the story to be dark and it will get darker before it's over. On the brighter side, some of that is humorous, specifically Xander will add humor occasionally, but it will not make the mood much better.

* * *

Chapter 9

Blood on the Colorado River

Leon and company made their way back to Vegas, where they made use of the abandoned Remnant's bunker. The team landed the Vertibird inside the main landing areq and made their way to the command center. They used the old ranger stations to map out the New Vegas Confederacy, monitoring any and all communications traffic making it's way across. Xander was with Fawkes in the hangar, helping add some modifications to the Vertibird, while Vanessa assisted Leon in mapping out the situation.

"All right, we've identified at least ten different Minutemen encampments." Vanessa stated. "They each seem to be monitoring over the different towns in the Mojave, as well as several key installations."

"Key installations?" Leon asked.

"Vault salvage operations, Military Bases, even the ranger stations. Anything that can be of use to the Confederacy and it's forces. Vanessa explained. From what we can tell, they are gathering for something." Vanessa pulled up at least fourteen transmissions. "While they all seem to just be battle planning, there is one thing metioned in all of these transmissions, something they call Operation: Downfall."

Leon looked at the transmissions with disdain. "This is there endgame. It's the only thing that can justify this amount of planning." Leon declared.

"That would seem evident." Vanessa continued. "Transmissions indicate that key Minutemen personel are gathering in the Mojave. They'll make a move. Soon."

The holograms went down, and Leon looked at Vanessa. "You seem to know them a little too well." Leon said with suspicion.

"Know your enemy." Vanessa declared.

"Or be them." Leon mumbled.

"What?" Vanessa asked.

"Nothing." Leon stated. Vanessa didn't know Leon had found there was a spy inside there ranks, and Leon kept it that way for a reason.

They walked out into the hangar. Leon had to admit his skin crawled at the sight of the Enclave Armor. He didn't look at them as the redeemed Old World Guard, he would always remember them for the murderers who killed his father. They had been his greatest enemy until he met the Courier. His anger at the Enclave was nothing compared to his absolute hatred of John Hollister.

Fawkes got up from the Vertibird and looked at Leon. "Anything on the Minutemen?" Fawkes asked.

Leon shook his head. "We intercepted some transmissions, but nothing solid." Leon stated.

Xander looked at him from the weapon systems upgrades. "So we're flying blind? Good to see nothing's changed about you." Xander said, sarcastically.

Leon ignored him. "What are our upgrades?" Leon asked.

Xander dropped the facade and got serious. "We have upgraded the laser systems to launch rapid fire Plasma Bolts, added several missile launchers, and equipped a Gauss Minigun to the bottom that can be retracted inside when we land."

"Good. We'll need that." Leon stated. "Be ready to-" Suddenly alarms rang out across the bunker.

Leon looked at Vanessa. "What is that?" Leon asked, unsure and angry.

"Beacon alarms. Someone set off a distress signal." Vanessa declared.

They ran into the command center to find she was right, there was a distress signal coming in from just across the Colorado, more specifically the Fort, which had now become the largest settlement for the Capital Wastelanders. They had started calling it Paragon.

Leon stood over the table as the signal cried out.

"This is General John Cassidy of the New Vegas Confederacy, we have discovered a large presence of Minutemen forces in the vacinity of Paragon. They appear to be lead by Tania Annex, and are heavily armed. Our men are being slaughtered out here. All attempts to penetrate their lines have failed. They appear to be holding some type of weapon in the center of the city, and are holding the people within the city hostage. We need immediate assistance."

The group looked at Leon. He smiled. "Let's go hunting."

* * *

The Vertibird took to the skies immediately. It flew past New Vegas, Sarah Lyons watching from the Lucky 38 as they passed. They flew past Freeside, and over the I-88 Trading Post, on the approach to Paragon. When they arrived they found a situation of pure chaos.

They flew overhead spotting the battle below. Tania's forces had occupied the hillside and the cliffs, while Cassidy and his men were on the ground attempting to advance, boats were floating ashore with backup forces and were leaving with displaced settlers. They were locked in cover as sniper rained bullets down on top of them as the fighting progressed. Leon gave the order to open fire. The Gauss Minigun unloaded several hundred bolts of energy in a minute. They had successfully injured several of the snipers, killing some of them as well, but the remainder of them regrouped quickly and began taking shots at the Vertibird. They turned around after their initial run and fired a barrage of missiles at the enemy forces, destroying the cover they were hiding in. Cassidy's men advanced up the hill, he himself wearing his old Checkmate suit, and began forcing the Minutemen from cover.

The Vertibird set down on the shores, as another batch of soldiers arrived to the front. Leon turned and saw the Capital Wastelanders leaving. He knew these people, in the crowd he spotted Moira, a grown-up Bubbles from Little Lamplight, Red from Big Town. and even Knight Captain Dusk. Once they had their own, independent lives, food in their stomachs and a bed to rest on, now they lived in tents, plagued by desert heat, and rationing the little supplies they recieved. None of them even recognized him anymore, the humanity in him was long dead, the legends that followed him were nothing but ashes.

He looked forward and saw Cassidy. Unlike Cass herself, Leon had met her father many times. They had fought alongside each other during several riots by the Capital Wastelanders when they arrived, and unlike the Courier, Leon held a sense of respect for Cassidy.

"Good to see you, Leon." Cassidy said. "Figured that was you in the Vertibird, you always have explosive entrances."

'I have a flare for the dramatic." Leon replied. "What's the situation?"

"Bad. They have some type of weapon inside the main portion of the city, the actual Fort." Cassidy explained. "They claim to have hostages as well."

Leon looked up at the fortress, it's barricades and fortifications remained solid. "How many?"

That's the problem. "While we've gotten people out of the lower areas, no one has escaped the Fort itself. There are dozens inside."

"How many are left in this area?" Leon asked.

"A few hundred. We only have so many boats, and command isn't sending Vertibirds. Something about the Brotherhood Head Paladin."

"Hardin?" Leon asked.

"Yes. I didn't catch it all, but it sounded as though he had found a Minutemen Compound in Utah. They won't be able to recall them from the raid." Cassidy explained, not knowing of Hardin's true alliegence.

Suddenly the sound of shells flew through the skies as a heavy barrage rained down upon them.

"This is Tania Annex. This is my final warning. You will cease your approach, or I will kill my hostages."

Another barrage of shells, and Leon looked as they hit the squads advancing up the hill. Xander, Vanessa, and Fawkes walked up behind him.

"She's a cheery woman, isn't she?" Xander declared, being a smart-alec.

Cassidy looked at him. "How long do you need to get in?" Cassidy asked.

Leon looked at him. "Ten minutes. Be ready to charge the main lines as soon as possible."

* * *

While Cassidy's men provided a distraction as Leon's team scaled the cliffs using grappling cables and other devices to infiltrate the Fort. After managing to get over the cliffs and walls, the group split up. Leon and Fawkes moved to stop Tania and the weapon she possesed, while Vanessa and Xander moved to open the gates and rescue the hostages.

Leon walked to the back of a tent, his mechanical eyes located the group through several forms of imaging. He counted six different formations of soldiers, with at least fifteen men per formation. He activated several of his new found devices and signaled Fawkes who was wielding his Gatling Laser. Fawkes jumped to the high rocks and opened fire with a fury of lasers. He exterminated two of the groups, and the rest scattered.

Several ran to the side of the base, preparing to fire at the giant. They weren't quick enough when Leon decloaked behind them. They turned around, only for him to reveal his first new upgrade: Hidden blades inside his robotic arms. They were made of sharpened black titanium with orange lights running the length of the ten inch retracting blades on top of his wrists. They were sharp enough to cut the air, and he drove them through there chest. They collapsed to the ground dead, and he ran forward, super-human speed at his disposal, killing men before they even knew he was there. Suddenly, two men aimed Plasma Casters at him. Before they fired, he activated another upgrade in the palms of his hands. Beams of raw energy hit the foes head on, completely disintegrating one and viciously killing the other.

Leon smiled at his power. The Minutemen were scattered and disorganized, but Tania was nowhere to be found. He heard the gates come crashing down, Vanessa and Xander had breached them. He looked around, not noticing any of Tania's Hostages, but then he saw it. A thick, grey, pod-like cylinder in the center of the settlement. It was five feet in diameter, seven feet in height, not an opening to speak of. There was a countdown timer on it: 3:21.6 It was counting down quickly. Vanessa and Fawkes ran towards him as the Minutemen scrambled to the gates, attempting to escape, but only ending up in a firefight with Cassidy's forces.

Vanessa looked at the device. "What is this thing?" She asked, unsure of what they were suppose to do.

"A bomb." Leon declared. He looked at Fawkes. "Can you disarm it?"

Fawkes had an expression of worry and doubt, something that was rare to see in him. I don't even know how it works. Fawkes stated. But I'll try.

"Good." Leon said, relief filling his voice, at least knowing someone who had a knack for this type of technology. Suddenly, a bullet raced by his head. Leon turned and saw Tania Annex.

"Hello, Wanderer." She said. Leon dodged several more bullets before firing back. Vanessa pulled out her Marksman Carbine and fired back at Tania. She began to retreat. Vanessa pursued while Leon moved to warn the soldiers about the bomb.

Leon ran towards the main entrance, killing several more Minutemen before encountering Xander.

"Xander, get these men to retreat." Leon demanded.

"Why?" Xander asked, unsure of why they were retreating as they were about to breach through.

"There's an explosive in the city. We don't know how much range and firepower it posseses." Leon explained. "It's going to go off any second."

Xander now understood. He pulled out a radio. "Cassidy, we have a bomb in the city. It's going to go off any minute, recall your men." Leon sent a similar message across all open channels. As their forces retreated, they heard a loud beeping. Leon turned in horror, as a fireball consumed the fortress, Fawkes and Vanessa still inside. A massive fountain of flames burst from the bombs, realeasing dozens of massive spheres of thermal energy. They lit the earth on fire the second they hit the ground. Ominous blue flames burned as the settlement burned and died.

Leon ducked out of the way, while Xander jumped from to the bottom cliffs, as hundreds upon hundreds of the spheres bombed the tents and towns. John Cassidy watched from the ground, his suit resisting the weapon, as his men burned around him. Hundreds of refugees burned alive, those trapped on the boats didn't even have time to duck into the water. The blue fires could be seen from Vegas. Xander had violent flashbacks to the Legion's rampage to his town, while Leon scrambled to his feet and looked at the inferno of death and destruction. Other then him, Xander, and John Cassidy, he couldn't see any other surviviors. No men, women, or children, just them. Tania's hostages had been everyone in the town.

He ran into the decimated town, spotting ground zero. The flames around him brought sweat to his face. These were people he knew, people he cared about. He reached ground zero and was disturbed by the sight of his freind. Fawkes lay there, his barely living body scorched and burning. Leon kneeled down to his freinds side. Fawkes looked at him, his eyes broken and dissapointed.

Fawkes opened his mouth to speak but only of dust and crisp ash left his crumpled body. He gave one last look at Leon and died. Leon, despite all he had become, was sad to watch his freind go. He looked up for a moment and saw something surprising: Vanessa Franks. She was still alive and so was Tania. They were facing off just north of him in the burning ruins. Leon ran after them.

* * *

Tania stood in front of Vanessa, who was aiming a Ranger Seqouia at the now unarmed Tania.

"You heartless maniac... These were innocent people." Vanessa declared.

"Dear girl. You really believe your any better?" Tania asked.

"I know I'm better then you. I don't kill without a cause." Vanessa stated. "In the distance a faint sound was heard, Vertibird engines."

"I believe you do. We very easily could be on the same team." Tania explained. Vanessa contined to hold her own. "You aren't following the Courier's ideals, your following your own. Work with us, we could bring his regime down, we could reclaim the NCR."

Vanessa hesitated, tempted by the idea of having her home free of the Revolutionist Federation. This was provocation enough, within a minute Leon appeared behind her, firing several rounds. The bullets didn't hit Tania, they hit Vanessa.

"You brought this on yourself." Leon declared. He fired one last bullet into Vanessa's skull. She collapsed to the ground, dead before the final bullet even hit her. Leon then looked to the sound of the engines.

Tania's escape route arrived, a lone Vertibird. She boarded the craft but Leon did nothing. He lowered his pistol and waited for the doors to close with Tania inside. She believed he was letting her go, but then, as it flew up above the river, a cloud of faded yellow microscopic machines hit the propellers. The Vertibird was shredded by it's own propellers, everyone inside killed in an instant.

Leon breifly smiled as he watched the wreckage hit the river, a taint of red flushing down the river. His smile was replaced with a blank faced expression as he looked towards the devastation and the dead.

"A little slice of home." Leon mumbled.


	10. The Die is Cast

Hello. All right, I have to get this out: If you have not seen Skyfall, you need to see it now. Stop reading and run for the theater. It's perfection. Period.

Okay if you're still here, I'll go on my usual rants.

I now have an actual updating schedule for my stories.

Fallout: Last Revolution = As often as possible.

Mass Effect: The Encounter = twice a month. (Please check this out)

All right, with that out of the way, Hope you enjoy!

* * *

I have to limit the replies out of fear of spoilers.

CyberJordan: I am. All I can say.

Oddliver: Yes.

Exile037: A lot of people have made similar comments and nicknames.

Slovous: Already sent it.

Nick of the WaterTribe: Maybe.

Nukeman: Always was.

* * *

Chapter 10

The Die is Cast

Word of the attack spread faster then the flames themselves. There was nothing anyone could do to stop the fires. They just kept burning until nothing but ash remained. The body-count was massive, at least three hundred dead, and dozens more wounded. Yet that wasn't the greatest problem. The fires had produced so much dust and smoke that it was now created a veil east of Hoover Dam. No one could see in, no one new what was going on inside, Firey ash would occasionally fall from the clouds of dust. While missiles were launched, modified to disperse the smoke, Leon flew through the air aboard a Vertibird, Fawkes corpse on board. His remains were nothing more then a crisp, charred, and scarred husk. His eyes were shut, forced shut by Leon. Where Amata's death had driven him near mad, what was in his eyes now was far more ominous and frightening: Nothing. Nothing at all.

There was a shutter in the Vertibird, they had landed. Leon took the body off in a stretcher walking off into McCarren. Sarah stood on the outside, color draining from her face as she saw Fawkes's body. She said nothing as Leon put the body down, stunned by his calm. Leon turned around towards the Monorail, his emotions all but dead.

* * *

Den of Crows

Where Vegas was mourning, the Minutemen were celebrating. They were drinking, eating, and enjoying there victory. Tania's death wasn't even a thought in their heads. Minutemen danced in the streets, with Ain't that a Kick in the Head playing in the background. Celebratory gunfire rang out, drums beat, and screams of victory echoed through the night.

In the command center of the enemy, Hardin and the others congratulated themselves on there victory. It was a sickening thing.

Bertrand grabbed Champagne, pouring it into glasses, and toasted the massacre. "To the cracking foundations of the Confederacy."

They all replied by raising there glasses and drinking down the Champagne, the fizzle of radiation in their throats. Before they were done, a beep came from the terminal. Hardin walked over, unsure of who was contacting them. He pressed a button on the keyboard, and a message came through.

"Our work is not yet done. The Courier's legacy is still alive in the Mojave Wasteland. We will never be done until we take his greatest accomplishment from him. Gather your finest men while I gather mine. We will meet at the former Legate's Camp at midnight. Downfall begins at dawn."

Executioner

They didn't hesitate. The commanders quickly announced this to there men and began deploying there forces to Legates Camp. None of them even looked to see that the sender was coming from inside the Lucky 38.

* * *

Lucky 38- Emergency Council Session

Who was sending the message couldn't even be deciphered among the screaming and anger in the Council. While they had already planned to meet today to inaugurate Sarah, now there was nothing but screaming and fury amongst the council.

"This is unforgivable!" Marcus yelled. "First Ulysses, now this!? Damn it!"

"Calm down Marcus." Arcade demanded.

"No!" Marcus yelled. "Those were innocent people, men, women, children and they all died. You can't tell me that doesn't bother you!"

"I'm with Marcus." Veronica declared. "Hundreds are dead and thousands are wounded, you cannot just stand by and tell people to calm down."

"Veronica-" McNamara tried to start.

"Don't even start." Veronica threatened. "The Minutemen have proven they cannot be allowed to survive any longer."

"They've also proven they possess enough firepower to level half of the Mojave." McNamara responded.

Leon was near the elevator, looking down on the council table. He decided to speak on it. "As much as I regret watching my people and friends die in the midst of those flames, I agree with McNamara." Leon declared. Everyone looked at the cyber-demon. The technology they possessed was Brotherhood-grade weaponry, albeit a makeshift version.

"Do you believe they seized our technology?" McNamara asked.

"I doubt it. Like I said it was makeshift, most likely salvaged weapons." Leon stated. Leon got a beep on his Pip-Boy. "Sorry to cut this short, but I have to leave."

Leon started to walk towards the elevator, and Sarah decided to weigh in. "We need to counter this now." Sarah declared. But first we need to resolve the issue we were going to deal with earlier.

They all looked at each other, knowing Vegas was still leaderless.

"Right." McNamara stated, remembering Sarah's plea for leadership. They heard the elevator doors open, and didn't notice it, but Leon's footsteps did not restart after the elevator arrived, rather a second set of footsteps made it's way to the railing. "Any objections?"

"Yes." All of there hearts stopped. They all turned there heads to the railing and saw him: the Courier.

John hopped over the railings in his duster. He hit the ground and everyone realized that he wasn't wearing the medical frame. His legs were repaired, and shock came to almost everyone in the room. John gave Leon one last look before the Lone Wanderer left, fury and darkness in his eyes.

"Good to see you all too." John said, sarcastically. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like my country back." John's usual sarcasm came off cold, ruthless, and a little intimidating.

McNamara was the first and last to oppose him. "No." McNamara said, defiantly. "You abandoned us. Left us to fend for ourselves against an enemy that would see us destroyed in an instant, and now you have the audacity to return and demand control. What possible reason could you have that would makes us even consider giving you power back?"

John's hardened eyes locked on McNamara. "Supremacy One." John replied. McNamara was silent in an instant. Sarah froze, and the Council's blood ran cold. John used there silence to continue. "They're back in force. They attacked the Sierra Madre, and took the cloud. You can't deny they are a threat." John proclaimed. The council members all looked at each other, knowing what he was saying. "Orion's endgame has begun, the Last Revolution is starting." John declared. "Orion is coming for blood."

Veronica stood up and looked at them. "How do we stop them?"

"I've had Project Alpha working on somethings, but for now..." John trailed off for a moment. The Council was held in suspense for a moment. "I'd say Protocol Six is in order." Those words filled the council with fear and disdain. Only a few still looked at John and trusted his judgement. Protocol Six was based off a Roman Idea, surprisingly, it was designed to give a single individual absolute power, no questions asked. As Sovereign, someone couldn't overide Council instructions, unless they were to the Sovereign directly, but Protocol Six overides all of it, and it was aimed right at the Courier.

"That's not possible." Sarah said. defiantly.

Even Marcus denied this order. "This nation was founded on freedom, and you're asking us to give you the power to stop all of that." Marcus stated. "We cannot surrender our liberties."

"We would rather die then give up our freedoms." McNamara declared.

John looked at them. "Fine, but ask yourself this: What happens when you have to live on that idea? What happens when Orion decides to take the fight to your homes?" John asked. "He's not human, he's not above killing women and children. He's not above torture and mass murder. He won't just kill you, he will break you. He will shatter your will to fight, and smile as he does it. Ask yourself: Can you be prepared for that?"

Silence fell across the room. No one could answer him, his words had burned there way into their very souls. After several minutes, Sarah responded. "We will hold a vote tommorow. I'm withdrawing my bid for leadership." Sarah declared. "Welcome back, John."

* * *

Legate's Camp-Command Tent

The Legate's Camp had beens spared the flames of the bomb. Now it seemed that was done with purpose. The camp was lit up by Minutemen Rebels, campfires burning to the sound of weapons loading and blades sharpening. In the command tent, the commanders stood over a map of the Mojave.

"So this is it." Bertrand said, wearing Reinforced Leather Armor and wielding a Varmint Rifle.

"Yes my friend." Craft stated. He was wearing Metal Armor, and wielding a Plasma Rifle. "This is the finish line."

"The Executioner will be here soon." Hardin stated. "Be cautious. One wrong move and your dead."

Bertrand watched Hardin's eyes become fearful. "Who is he exactly? Other then you none of us have met him."

Hardin looked at him. "He is the Devil." Hardin declared. "Nothing more, nothing less."

They all dropped silent. Then they heard the tent flap open as a shadowy figure walked in. They all looked to the dimly lit entrance to the large, multi-room, tent. Everyone looked to the darkened figure as he entered the light. Silence fell as the truth came out.

The Executioner was Leon Stinger.

The Lone Wanderer walked up to the table, no man in the room willing to meet his violent gaze.

"What's our status?" Leon asked.

"All of our forces are in place." Hardin said. "They are all equipped."

"And what of the weapon?" Leon asked.

"It's en-route. Testing was successful. It should arrive not long after the battle begins." Craft stated.

"Are you certain?" Leon continued to ask.

"Of course. Would you expect less?" Craft asked, filled with pride.

Leon took out his 10mm Pistol and shot Craft in the head. "The NCR is long dead, there will be no resurrection for them." He aimed his pistol at Hardin and Bertrand.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Hardin yelled.

"I have not come this far only to have you weigh me down." Leon killed them both in moments. He looked down at the map, and walked away.

He walked out of the tent and saw his army: The Faction. He said he had Sarah destroyed there technology, but in reality he ordered her to keep it and hide it. Now he had augmented the Minutemen with it, and was ready to use it against Vegas. No one knew the terrifying truth behind the Faction: Once the Minutemen were in the suits, the suits killed them and turned the bodies into soldiers. He had only salvaged some of it, but using Hardin's Brotherhood Resources, he mass-produced them.

Leon had gone head long off the edge of insanity. There was no denying it. As the sun began to rise, Leon ordered his armies to march towards Hoover Dam, a sinister laugh ringing out in the dawn.


	11. Fury of the Lone Wanderer

Hello. Good to get an update out quickly. I'm on a roll now!

Glad that twist last chapter hit everyone like it did. I figured we were due a good earth-shattering twist. Nothing else to say really. Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: Thank you. I guess I managed to set up that twist perfectly. As for the Courier, if you think these guys are the worst he will face, you've seen nothing yet. You didn't think that if you learn something from Supremacy One they didn't learn something from you, did you? :)

Oddliver: Quite a bit of trouble actually.

Slovous: He lost it the second John shot Amata, now it's all coming back around. Oh and here's a poster of John and Leon dueling in Vegas. Hope you like it.

Nick of the WaterTribe: Yes he is. You're about to see just how far he's gone.

ejthepinoy: Believe it or not, we've only scratched the surface of his madness, it's not over, not by a long shot.

Exile037: I wouldn't go that far. We haven't gotten there yet, but Orion passes Leon by a long shot in terms of evil.

Coolstorybro75: Thank you, I think the majority of readers want John to win after what happened to Fawkes.

* * *

Chapter 11

Fury of the Lone Wanderer

On the towers above Hoover Dam, stood the finest Sand Marines and soldiers New Vegas possessed, backed by a massive Securitron force. Hoover Dam was what controlled Vegas, what gave it life, what gave it power. The Confederacy would collapse without it. Within the walls, hundreds of engineers were working on the dam's power to maximize it's power output, ensuring all of the wasteland would receive power. Similar operations were underway at HELIOS One. Within moments, however, all of that would change.

On the far east, the light from the rising sun blocked the view, blocking the view of Legate's camp, and preventing them from seeing the approaching threat, on the other side, hundreds of Leon's Faction soldiers approached. Two Sand Marines began to see shadows through the light, and they were moving closer.

"Halt!" One of them yelled. "Identify yourselves."

There response came in a hail of energy. The two soldiers were dead, and the Faction appeared out of the darkness. Several soldiers moved to the left towards the one of the maintenance shafts, targeting Hoover Dam's Ventilation systems. The rest began to assault the Dam head on. The snipers on the towers retaliated with heavy fire from there Anti-Material Rifles, but the Faction armor had been upgraded, this time with telekinetic fields that quickly hooked on to the bullets and deflected them. One of the Securitrons opened fire with a burst of Gatling Laser Fire and began attacking the enemy. It barely scratched the armor. Leon arrived behind them, and began slaughtering Sand Marine after Sand Marine. Several Faction Soldiers with Omega Cannons began bombarding the West half of the Dam, disintegrating soldier after soldier. Leon looked to the doors and saw several more soldiers, several of which were Brotherhood, run out shooting. Leon turned on one of his many upgrades, and drained the energy from the Brotherhood weapons, before turning it back on them in the form of Laser Beams. They died and Leon smiled. He pulled out his communicator.

"Seal them in. Let them claw at the walls like dying rats." Leon declared, taking a sadistic pleasure in it. His armies responded, deploying some type of cubical device, on the concrete behemoth. The device turned on, firing off some kind of pulse. At first no one could tell what it was doing, then they all felt it. The doors all simultaneously locked, magnetized shut, and similarly, soldiers wearing any kind of armor made of metal, felt there bodies being crushed. For a moment they remained still, and began feeling blood rush to there mouths from their crushed suits. Within moments later, they were nothing but a pile of blood and metal crushed on the ground. Leon and his forces were immune, leaving the doors shut for good reason.

The team of Faction soldiers sent to the ventilation systems began attaching something to the air filters. It was cylindrical, with two pieces to hold a container between. The Faction soldiers pulled out a cylinder, with the word and symbol for Biohazard on the front. One of them placed the container inside the device, and hit the switch.

Below in the sealed off engineering wing, a black tint filled the air. At first it was simply hard to see, then it got worse. People began coughing, vomiting blood, then insanity set in. It wasn't hard to tell what Leon had done: The canister was filled with Wraith-Plague. As people began to die, one engineer made his last moments matter. He slammed down on the control panel, triggering the distress signal. Leon detected it and smiled.

"Come and get me, Courier."

* * *

Lucky 38-Penthouse

The signal reached the Lucky 38 in moments. The alarm went off all over the Strip. John raced to the command center to find that the Council was already there.

"Yes Man. What's going on?" John asked.

"There been a distress signal triggered at Hoover Dam." Yes Man said, in his cheery tone. "It seems that there has been some type of attack."

John's eyes widened. "Legion?" John asked.

"No." Yes Man replied.

"Minutemen?"

"No. As a matter of fact I can't find identify the attackers." Yes Man declared. "Those words sent a chill through the room."

John looked at Sarah Lyons. "Do we have surveillance over Hoover Dam?" John asked, anger in his voice.

"No." Sarah said. "We've scrambled several Warhawks to get a view of the Dam, but they're still several minutes out."

John thought on that for a moment before looking back at the monitor. "Are the Dam's security cameras working?"

Yes Man ran through his systems. "Yes."

"Put them on screen." John regretted those words almost instantly when he saw the enemy on the other side. He saw the familiar power armor, the familiar weapons, and the mass murder.

"Oh no. No, no, no, no, no, no, no." Sarah repeated, constantly.

"Who are they?" Marcus asked.

John had a solid, grim look on his face. "The Faction." John said. "The enemy we faced in New York." The Council couldn't even reply, they were all shocked at the level of carnage as the Faction tore through friendly forces at the Dam. They had heard the stories, they didn't need to see them up close.

"But... That's not possible." Veronica declared. "Siren is dead, they can't have survived."

"Yes Man. Can you identify the leader of the attack?" John asked.

"Searching." Yes-Man replied. It took several minutes but he found it.

"Oh my god..." Sarah said, tears rolling to her eyes. John didn't act surprised, in truth he wasn't. He knew there was only one man who hated him enough to do this.

"Leon..." Sarah trailed off.

John looked at her. "Did you know about this?" John asked.

"Know that he was unstable enough to do this? Of course not!" Sarah yelled.

John believed her, Leon was clever, insane but clever. He would not have let anyone that was going to leave alive know.

"Should I call for a counter-attack?" Yes-Man asked.

John though on it for a moment, then gave an unexpected response.

"Yes. Send 1000 of our soldiers." John started. "Then prepare a funeral service for all of them."

All of the room looked at him with an expression of shock, but when he looked back at them, that look became fear.

"Yes sir." Yes-Man replied.

The Courier turned and looked at the Council, ready to explain. "Leon's not stupid, he want us to come at him with a counter-attack so he can decimate all our forces at once. He's got an ace in the hole. Time to see what it is."

Yes-Man followed the order to the letter. Within moments, one thousand Sand Marines were deployed, and within the week, one thousand graves would be dug.

* * *

The Gambit made it's way across the wastes, deployed from a military base just north of the Mojave. After entering the Mojave through the Northern Passage, they advanced towards Hoover Dam, unaware of the fate the Courier had condemned them too.

They arrived at the Dam and found that they were fighting a losing battle. It had taken them two hours to arrive, and by the time they came, only two teams of soldiers remained alive. The Gambit had been armed with Saturnite Bullets, Battle Rifles, and 12.7mm Pistols, the standard weapons for Sand Marines, save the ammunition.

The Gambit opened fire with shots from the Battle Rifles, 12.7 casings filling the air. The Saturnite bullets raced through the open air, hitting and killing Faction soldiers. While the bodies inside were very dead, the suits themselves shared the same weak points as a human being, it was one of Siren's ways of believing there was still humanity in her armies.

Leon turned and saw his enemies arriving. He gave them the order for the Faction to open fire and watched as the Sand Marines advanced.

Leon ran forward, weapon in hand. He opened fire, killing one squad as they advanced. He barreled down on another enemy and drove a Combat Knife that had belonged to Amata during her brief life in the Brotherhood, straight through his head.

He killed that soldiers squad with a vicious burst laser fire, then tore through several more, as they advanced. He knew he wasn't invincible as bullets grazed his arms and chest, with another burst scratching his skin. Seeing that there were so many soldiers, he pulled out his communicator, and uttered three words.

"We've played with them enough, deploy the weapon." Leon stated.

For a moment there was nothing, then there was a rumbling. The earth began shuttering, as the Warhawk fighters flew over head, something massive began to walk on Hoover Dam.

The pilots of the Warhawks looked down at the smoke columns rising from Hoover Dam, they were in awe as a familiar machine walked out of the smoke. He had been rebuilt from plans stolen from Mr. House's database, upgraded with more powerful weapons and armor, given a new Polar White color, and one change Leon had made himself.

"THE COURIER MUST DIE! NEW VEGAS MUST BURN!"

The hulking giant known as Liberty Prime walked across Hoover Dam, bearing the arsenal of a mad man. It had a type of stealth device on it, which was why no one had noticed it until now. As he marched across the Dam, everyone looked at him in horror. Leon climbed to the top of the sniper roost on top of the middile tower and smiled as the monster began disintegrating all enemy forces in it's way. As the Sand Marines began retreating, understanding when they were outgunned, Liberty Prime' unleashed the bombs on his back, burning all of the Sand Marines around the Dam.

Within moments the Courier gave the retreat order for the Warhawks, but the three fighters were not fast enough. Liberty Prime still possessed the most impressive feature: his visor laser. One shot from the beams of energy shot down the first, another for the second, and with one final burst, the last Warhawk went down.

* * *

Back in the Lucky 38, the Courier could only watch as the final transmission from the onboard camera aboard the Warhawk went dead as the plane hit the cliffside. He breifly looked down only to hear a voice. He looked up to see Leon's face on the monitor. He was transmitting from Hoover Dam's Main control panel. In the background, he could see engineer bodies being burned, most likely to stop reanimation into Decayed.

"You brought this on yourself, you know." Leon said. "All of this could have been avoided had you stayed away from Vegas."

"This would have changed if I simply stayed east? You would have changed?" John asked, angry that his gambit had worked.

"Of course." Leon declared. "Downfall would have been a failure, the Executioner's support would never arrive, and the remaining commanders would be tried and executed. I would stand as the hero when you never arrived. One week later, Sarah's corpse would be found, along with transmission records revealing her as the Executioner. That would lead to the discovery of incriminating documents pinning the late Vanessa Franks as the mole in intelligence. It all would have played out nicely... But you came back, so I reverted to my original plan."

John went silent, sickened by Leon's display of elaborate psychosis.

"No clever comebacks? No final warnings? No threats?" Leon taunted. "I'm disappointed in you. I never thought you would lose your edge." Leon looked at his Pip-Boy. "Look at that, I suppose it's time."

"Time for what?" John finally asked.

"To send the message." Leon said, a sadistic grin across his face. The transmission cut out, and suddenly Leon's voice was heard over the radio, hacking Radio New Vegas and Mojave Music Radio.

"Citizens of the Confederacy, this is Leon Stinger. The Courier has failed you. Hoover Dam is in my control and your empire has been defeated. While that may come as a defeat to some of you, for others it's a time to rejoice. The Mojave is lawless now, the Confederacy is defeated. Some loyalists among you may still believe in hope. When this transmission is done, that will all change. It's anarchy now. Welcome it with open arms."

Suddenly, the lights went off across the wasteland. Leon had shut down Hoover Dam, and all John could do was watch as New Vegas began to rip itself apart.


	12. Know Your Enemy

Wow took me a while to write this one. It's not long, it's a rather short chapter, but I wasn't sure how I wanted it to play out. I'm honsetly still not sure but I'm hoping for the best. Read and enjoy!

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Wow. TEN REVIEWS IN A CHAPTER?! Wow, thanks so much guys. That made my day. Thank you.

CyberJordan: It doesn't but Orion isn't so much concerned as irritated as you will see soon enough. You won't see it this chapter but soon enough your going to see that John's more then unforgiving with his retaliation.

Oddliver: Not exactly, the Faction's Aircraft were never named, although I will refer to them from now on as Boomerangs. The Warhawks were modified fighter craft from the Second World War. They were salvaged from Pre-War Military Bases within the Confederacy.

Slovous: Strong opinion. You'll have to wait a litte bit, but it's going to be well worth it.

Nick of the WaterTribe: Well as you'll find out very quickly, ARCHIMEDES is out of the question, and the Boomers are temporarily out of commission due to the loss of the B-29 Super-Fortress during the New York Campaign, there resources being devoted to the rebuilding of that aircraft. So John's going to prepare a fught

ejthepinoy: You have no idea. Also the country your thinking of is the Revolutionist Federation. Trust me. Soon enough you'll see the reasons they've been such a problem. They make the Legion look like kittens.

Exile037: Not just yet. John's got to be prepared to fight him, and he has more then a few cards left to play.

DumpsterHobo01: Good to hear. Hope you have the Paramedics on speed dial, because we are nowhere near the end of the twists and turns.

Superstar Kid: The roots of Leon's insanity were seeded years earlier. His madness was stirring, it just needed the trigger. That trigger just happened to be the Courier. He's just too far gone to see the truth. He hates S1 but he left before he could here they returned, even then he hates the Courier more, so much that he was willing to destroy everyone he cared about.

Nukeman: The horror indeed.

Coolstorybro75: Thank you. Trust me, we aren't even close to the end. Leon is just the beginning.

Now Orion's twisted agenda continues as Sarah and John plan for a counter-strike against Leon.

* * *

Chapter 12

Know Your Enemy

Supremacy Central

Orion stood in his lair, no longer alone. Lazarus was using the projection of earth to locate the remainder of the Dark Crucible, while Archangel roamed the base, making use of the resources available. Orion was watching the monitor as a cloaked surveillence drone monitored the situation in the Mojave. Riots were breaking out, Towns were rebelling, and that damage was spreading out into the rest of the Confederacy. The drone monitored Hoover Dam and Orion saw Leon leading the Faction, Liberty Prime standing vigilant over the prize

"This was not part of the plan." Orion mumbled. He zoomed in on Liberty Prime as it caught his eye.

Lazarus turned and saw his brother watching the machine with intrest. He walked up to the monitor.

"Such an inefficent design. I can identify twenty flaws in a single glance." Lazarus stated.

Orion turned and looked at Lazarus. "I'm not worried about that." Orion stated. "Siren's actions in the Liberty Zone have set these events in motion. The Lone Wanderer cannot be allowed to continue existing. His actions are beyond unacceptable." Orion zoomed in on the cyber-demon, standing before his forces as smoke rose in the distance.

"We can terminate him with ease." Lazarus stated. "He cannot defeat us."

"You may believe that, but I have learned not to underestimate humanity." Orion declared. "I know the Courier, he is resourceful, ruthless, and when it comes down to it, the most dangerous man in the world. He's not going to stand by while his nation falls apart." Orion looked at the images of Leon and Liberty Prime once more. "They don't know just how sinister a man like him can be."

"In that case, shouldn't we be focusing on more impotant matters?" Lazarus asked.

Orion looked down for a minute, then looked back up. "Indeed." He zoomed out of that screen and brought up a current map of the world. "This is where Strife and Supremacy Four are located."

Lazarus scanned the map. "You always had a taste for the dramatic."

Orion smiled. "Find Archangel, we're leaving."

* * *

Lucky-38

In the hours following the fall of Hoover Dam, chaos reigned through the Mojave. While Vegas remained powered and fortified thanks to the generator in the Lucky 38, thr rest of the Mojave was thrown into disarray. Riots broke out in the Capital Wasteland refugee camps, the towns fell apart as raiders returned, the Mojave was becoming a crumbling ruin once more.

The Brotherhood managed to hold onto HELIOS One. The Followers sent Scientists under heavy guard to assist in keeping it online. They rewired the power from the ARCHIMEDES II Defense Grid to power Vegas through the Mojave Substations, all under heavy guard. Even then, it was a patch job. The nation was falling apart, reports were coming in that the Utah region was facing a similar crisis. Joshua Graham was hard pressed fighting rebels at the Great Salt Lake alongside the Dead Horses, while Daniel watched the Sorrows, now trained in the Way of the Canaanite, slaughter returning Warlord forces at Grand Staircase.

John watched from the Penthouse as fires and smoke rose in the distance. The Council had left, the Courier had bern given Absolute Power.

He looked at the monitor where Yes-Man silently awaited an order. He could have sent his armies to resecure the Confederacy, he could have launched missiles against Liberty Prime, he could kill Leon, but instead he just stood there. As night fell, he poured a glass of Absinthe and sat in his chair, looking out into the Mojave Wasteland.

"It's not your fault, you know." A voice said, behind him. John turned and saw Sarah Lyons, wearing her Elder Robes and sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry if I don't share that opinion." John replied, taking another drink of Absinthe.

Sarah walked forward. Sitting in another chair, she took a shot glass and poured some Absinthe.

"Leon was unstable long before you showed up." Sarah explained, downing the shot in an instant. "The first time I met him he was just a lonely kid in the DC Ruins, starved and weak, fresh out of the Vault. He barely understood how to fire a Pistol."

John eyes shifted towards her. "I've read the file, I know his service record." John declared, pouring another drink.

Sarah did the same. "You don't know the whole story. His service record only covers his operations in the Brotherhood, not his whole life." Sarah declared. She caught John's attention with that sentence. "You know Leon came out of a Vault. Do you know why?" Sarah asked.

John shook his head. "Between being shot at by Supremacy One, dueling with the Faction, and being chased by the Decayed? No. I didn't have a chance to ask him about it."

Sarah smiled. "I suppose." She looked down at her glass and a tear fell into the Absinthe. She looked at it and then pulled out a Holotape from her pocket. "I know your thinking of something, a plan to defeat Leon." Sarah declared. She handed him the Holotape. "This is the proof that things had gone wrong long before you arrived."

"Where did you get this?" John asked.

Sarah hesitated to respond. "We keep reports on all our operations, but this one was covered up. The truth behind what really happened was locked away. I kept it, and every gritty detail inside."

John studied the Holotape for a moment. Then looked to see Sarah leaving. "Answer me something, Sarah." John stated.

Sarah looked back at him. "What?" Sarah asked.

"When I have to make the choice... Which would you prefer?" John asked. Sarah understood what he was talking about: He was asking if he should kill Leon or not.

Sarah pondered it for a moment, but she knew her answer. "The Lone Wanderer is dead. End the monster wearing his title. As slow as possible." Sarah declared. She left in the elevator, and John looked at the tape. Something intresting was scribbled across the front on a worn out piece of tape: Project Purity.

John looked at the words, and something about them seemed familiar. He stood up and put the Holotape into the Lucky 38 Central Monitor.

"Yes-Man. Scan this for me." John demanded.

"Yes sir." Yes-Man replied. He ran through the Holotape multiple times, then displayed several different files of information downloaded off of the Holotape. John looked at the reports and files, then he spotted Leon's version. John accessed the folder by reversing the Lucky 38 Encryption Software. The date was nine years before he met Leon at the Commonwealth.

Whatever was in this report was not meant for anyone outside the Brotherhood to see. Whatever it was, it had an effect on Leon. Every detail mattered right now, John was done taking chances.

He looked down at the controls. He pressed a single button, and uncovered the truth behind the Lone Wanderer.

* * *

Elsewhere, Orion was inside his personal aircraft, the same that attacked the Task Force in New York. Lazarus sat nearby. Orion pressed a button on the wall and the back slid open. Below them, sand as far as the eye could see, and in the distance the Pyramids still stood, now covered in ash with the foundations of stone shook apart.

Orion simply smiled. "Welcome to Egypt."


	13. Alpha and Omega

Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out, and sorry ahead of time because this is not the showdown, that comes next. In the meantime, I hope this satisfies.

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CyberJordan: It's going to get ugly, so much that I'm considering changing the rating to M. We shall see.

Oddliver: Thank you, here's the next part.

Slovous: I'll think about it.

Nick of the WaterTribe: Hope this makes up for the shortness of the last. And while those ideas are interesting for Supremacy One, no.

Exile037: Get ready, it's coming.

TrixteR4573: Out of fear of spoilers, all I can say is that all of those details have been taken into account. Also, good to know I have more followers from the first story then I thought. Thank you.

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Chapter 12

Alpha and Omega

Project Purity-Ten Years Earlier

It was the final charge. Liberty Prime stomped through the streets, annihilating Enclave forces as they launched their tragic final stand. Sarah Lyons dove forward firing across cars as they approached the Purifier.

"Keep moving!" Sarah yelled, killing two more soldiers with a burst from her Laser Rifle. She laid down suppressing fire, not noticing an Enclave Hellfire Soldier sneaking up behind her. She turned to see a flamer aimed at her head.

"Time to die, Brotherhood scum." The Soldier said. "God bless America." Sarah spit in his face, and moments later, a combined burst of fire from a Gatling Laser and a Gauss Rifle made him collapse to the ground, dead. Sarah looked up to see a super-mutant and a man in thick T-51b power armor.

"Need a hand Sentinel?" The man asked, holding out his hand.

Sarah grunted. "What took you so long, kid?" Sarah replied.

The man took off his helmet revealing a far younger Leon, still completely human, shaggy shave style black hair, with a goatee, as he stood alongside Fawkes.

"Had a slight problem. Part of the Pride got pinned down. I managed to take the heat off them, but Glade didn't make it." Leon explained.

Sarah silently cursed in frustration. "Doesn't matter, we're nearly there." She said. "Let's move!" She yelled. They advanced. Leon ran forward towards an Enclave squad, sliding across a car with a burst of Gauss Fire, killing two men before the officer leading them took a Combat Knife to the head. Sarah concentrated fire with Gallows and Dusk, killing six men just ahead of the shield, while Leon continued to kill incoming enemies, taking pleasure in killing the men who were ravaging his fathers work.

Leon approached the shield with Fawkes and Liberty Prime.

"Let's finish this." Leon said, looking at Fawkes.

"Gladly my friend." Fawkes declared. Liberty Prime began grasping through the shield, the crackle of lightning and energy screeching through the night. To Leon it was the sweet sound of the Enclave's death. As the shield came crashing down, Leon didn't hesitate to charge. He shot two Enclave forces, killing one with an overload to his Tesla Armor, the other's head was blown clean off. A ray of energy from Liberty Prime destroyed one of the Vertibirds, incinerating several more Enclave forces in the distance. Leon pushed forward, Fawkes fired his Gatling Laser at enemies attempting to flank Leon, and Sentinel Lyons was close behind Leon.

Enclave soldiers exited the memorial and fired at Leon. He ducked into cover behind a rock, firing over to keep them off of him. Sarah grabbed an Incinerator off of a dead Hellfire Soldier, and proceeded to flush the enemies from behind the purifier entrance, only for Leon to jump out and tear them apart with Jingwei's Shock Sword. His Power Armor trashed, he equipped his Armored Vault Suit and ran into the Memorial, Sarah and Fawkes close behind.

Project Purity-Control Room

After fighting through several more Enclave soldiers, they arrived at the Control Center. Leon walked forward to see a very smug Colonel Autumn standing ten feet in front of him.

"Well, Well, Well." Autumn said, clapping. "Look at this. The mutants make there final stand. Give it up kid, you've lost."

Leon pulled out his Pistol and aimed it right at Autumn's head. "I beg to differ, Raven Rock is gone, Eden is gone, the Enclave is finished."

"That's where you're wrong kid." Autumn stated. "We've won. Even without Eden and Raven Rock, we have hundreds of men at our disposal, fleets of Vertibirds, and all you have is your pathetic Brotherhood."

Leon's anger boiled. "I'm giving one chance Autumn, you can walk away now. Leave the Capital Wasteland and never look back." Leon declared, cocking his pistol.

Autumn just laughed. "You think you can take me and my guards? You're just like your father: You're in way over your head and worthless to the world. Say hi to him for me, something tells me you and him will have a lot of time to catch up."

Sarah and Fawkes immediately knew to stand to the side, because Autumn had made his last mistake: He had unleashed the Lone Wanderer's hidden fury.

Leon was off like a rocket, he killed one of the guards from inside his suit, before he turned the first guard's Gatling Laser on the second guard, disintegrating him in a matter of seconds. He then grabbed Autumn by the neck before he even got off a single shot, Leon grabbed Autumn's pistol and smashed it under his foot. Leon rammed his knee straight through Autumns chest, ribs snapping as he did and Autumn barely had time to breathe before Leon came back with a uppercut to the chin. Autumn stumbled backwards towards the railing, but Leon grabbed him and threw him to the ground, Autumn couldn't move in time before Leon became an animal. His fists hit Autumn like hammers hitting an anvil, each blow a savage assault. Autumn looked at the hatred in Leon's eyes and knew there was no escape. Leon picked him up over his head, even before the cybernetics he had super-human strength.

"This is for my dad, you son of a bitch!" Leon yelled. He brought Autumn down on his knee, hearing the screams of a broken man, before throwing his dying body into the water below, leaving him to drown.

Sarah and Fawkes looked at Leon in fear and horror at what he had just done. They had never known the Lone Wanderer to have such savage instincts. Leon didn't notice, he put his hands in the water below and washed the red off, the reflection in the water the last image of a long dead man.

* * *

Lucky 38-Present Day

John watched as the screen began to fade away as radiation levels in the purifier rose. Leon stepped into the chamber and the footage cut out. John now understood what he had to do.

"Yes-Man, contact Project Alpha." John demanded.

The screen flashed multiple times before a face appeared on the monitor. It was the face of Raul in his Armored Maintenance Jumpsuit.

"Raul, can you hear me?" John asked.

"Yeah, boss. You're coming in loud and clear." Raul replied. "What's going on? We've been getting reports of an attack on Hoover Dam."

"Yeah I know. We've lost it Raul." John replied.

Raul's eyes widened. "Supremacy One?" He asked, fear hardening his expression.

"For once I wish it was." John replied. "It was Leon, Raul. Leon Stinger. He was behind the Minutemen and now he has an army of Faction soldiers at his disposal."

John looked up at Raul to see terror in the Ghouls old eyes. Raul was having a hard time grasping all this. "What do we do?" Raul asked.

"How long before we can start rolling out the Alpha Fighters?" John asked.

"Weeks. We've barely tested the first wave." Raul replied.

"And the weapons?" John asked.

"Longer then that. This isn't your average salvage. What your having us do... It's like taking Physics and turning into a demolition site."

"I'll be there tomorrow. You have twenty-four hours to get the first wave operational."

"What?!" Raul yelled. "Boss, I can understand the urgency, but we still don't know what the majority of this crap does. For all we know there could be policeboxes that time travel in this thing, Cyborgs with a massive airborne carrier at there disposal, statues that come alive when you blink." Raul yelled, but John cut the channel.

* * *

Nevada Desert

Sarah, Veronica, and several other rode in a Salvaged Military Hummer, a Brotherhood Gunner on the 50. Caliber Turret on the roof.

"How much further, Veronica?" Sarah asked, wearing her Lyons Pride Power Armor once more.

Veronica was next to the driver. "We should be able to see it now." Veronica said, the sun rising in the distance.

Sarah looked out the front window and spotted some structures in the distance. They were small shadows at first, then they grew ever larger as they approached.

They drove up to the structures, only to find downed fences and perimeter towers. The structures inside consisted of at least ten Hangars, an Airfield, buildings marked with Pre-War Military insignias and Warehouses scattered across dried lakes. They approached the downed perimeter to spot Old World Guard forces on guard. They crossed them with ease thanks to Veronica being present. Only briefly did they spot the number on the hangar before arriving at it. In faded and dusty letters, there was a number that would have struck fear into the hearts of the people before the war:

Area 51

They got out of the car and spotted John standing in front of the hangar.

"Welcome to the most closely guarded secret in the Pre-War world." John said as they approached.

Sarah looked around at the massive amounts of soldiers patrolling the grounds. "What exactly is this place John?" Sarah asked.

John almost smiled. "Some call it the Black Box, some call it the Treasure Chest, and some call it Hell on Earth. But to me it's called Project Alpha."

"What are you talking about?" Sarah asked.

This is where the future begins. "You've seen the Raven..." John hit a button on his Pip-Boy, and the hangar door slid open "...Welcome to the Nest."

They all looked on in awe as the hangar revealed an entire fleet of Zeta Fighters. Engineers repairing them, salvaging them, reverse engineering them. John walked forward with the groups as they all looked at the technology that not only repaired the Courier's legs, but was capable of so much more.

"Where in the world did you find all this?" Sarah asked.

"John looked at her. Most of it was here when we got here. None of them were working at the time, and currently we only have a few up and running, but it's enough."

"And as for the things you didn't find here?" Sarah asked.

John's eyes darted back and forth. "When we arrived in the Capital Wasteland, Leon mentioned the target of the laser under the Commonwealth was a place called Mothership Zeta. I had Ulysses copy all files you had on the ship before we knew about the Faction or any of them. After we returned, we got this place up and running, and not long after, stumbled across the remains of the ship Leon shot down, Mothership Alpha. We gathered all the salvage possible, and stored it here, to build a counter-attack against Supremacy One."

"And now you're going to use them against Leon?" Sarah asked.

"No. These are going to be used to destroy Liberty Prime and his Faction." John replied. "Leon is my problem."

"You can't beat him alone." Sarah stated.

"What else am I suppose to do?" John asked, furiously. "Wait till I'm standing over the corpses of my wife and son? Watch my friends die around me as Leon continues on to Vegas? He's not going to wait around forever. Once he's had his fun, he'll burn the Mojave down and kill everyone in it." John's out burst made everyone fall silent. "I can't just kill him, he'll just become the inspiration for more rebellions. No, I have to turn his own game against him. I have to break him, body and mind."

Everyone looked at him in disbelief and bewilderment. The Courier had never been a merciful man, but he wouldn't prolong a man's suffering. If someone had to die, he made it quick and painless, not slow and savage like the Legion or Revolutionist Federation.

While no one in the group could speak, someone finally did, a voice the Courier believed he wouldn't hear again.

"I stand with the Courier." The voice rang out.

The group all turned towards the entrance, shocked to see Ulysses walking forward. His face was still grizzled, scars driven along the sides of his broken face. His duster had been stitched back together, his voice still slightly throaty from the bullet he took. His breathing was far shorter then normal, his lung may not have even been in his chest for all they knew.

Everyone waited for him to speak again. It didn't take long for that wish to be granted.

"Leon may be a monster but he is also an icon. The Executioner. The Lone Wanderer. You can't just destroy him, you have to break all he ever stood for. You don't want a martyr, you want an example." Ulysses declared.

Everyone looked at each other, getting past the initial surprise and shock. It took time, but they all came to the same conclusion. With all looking to him, the Courier smiled at his old friend.

"Sarah, you're in charge of the fighter squadron, prepare the soldiers, the controls have been modified into Vertibird piloting mechanisms so there human capable. Veronica, talk to Raul and make sure everything is working on the fighters and make final preparations. Report to your posts."

The group dispersed and left only Ulysses and John standing there.

John shook his friends hand. "It's good to have you back." John said.

Before he could reply, Ulysses started coughing violently. John caught him as he nearly fell to the ground.

"Yeah... Enjoy it while it lasts." Ulysses replied. John let him go as Ulysses pounded on the floor, blood leaking through his mask.

John helped him back up, only for Ulysses to start coughing violently again. "What is going on with you?" John asked.

Ulysses looked up at him. "The bullet had been filled with some form of plasma. It was hiding a chemical that was released moments after the plasma hit." Ulysses explained, struggling to his feet. "The Divide cybernetics aren't equipped to fight it and any Doctors can barely identify it because it mimics blood to the point where the difference is microscopic. Long story short, it's killing me from the inside out."

John was startled to hear this. "How long do you have?" He asked, fearing for his friend.

Ulysses wiped the blood from his mask. "Anywhere between six months and ten months. It's not going to be particularly quick either." Ulysses looked at the worried John. "It doesn't matter, I've walked my road, if it's time for that road to end, so be it."

John was saddened to hear this, but not enough that he had forgotten the situation at hand. "Can you still lead?" John asked. Ulysses nodded. "Then contact the Old World Guard, have them prepare a counter attack on the ground. Don't die on me yet, I need you."

As Ulysses started moving towards the command center, the Courier looked to the open hangar doors behind him. Knowing what was on the horizon and beyond he only had one thought: God help us all.

* * *

Egypt

Orion, Archangel, and Lazarus treked across the sands to the Pyramids. As they approached, they found that some of the sand had been melted into Glass by the bombs, making the trek more difficult, yet also concealing Supremacy Four in secrecy.

Orion look to the skies to spot the Pyramid of Giza up close, a layer of ash and broken glass on top of it. At the entrance stood two guards, each bearing Supremacy Four Armor. It resembled standard T-45d Power Armor, but it was covered in Desert Camouflage, as well as being more standardly fit together. On there backs in a faded red was S4.

Orion walked forward, but the soldiers just looked at him, standing in the doorway.

"Stand aside, I am Orion, leader of Supremacy."

The soldier's raised there weapons. We know who you are and so does everyone else here.

"Then let me pass." He demaded.

"We know what happened in London, we know what happened to Supremacy Three. You have twenty seconds to leave." The guards said, defiantly.

Orion was baffled for a moment. He had killed any and all survivors in London, and there was no surveillance. no one other then him, Archangel, and Lazarus should have known.

Even so, his surprise was quickly replaced with the same lethal instincts he always knew. He dispatched the guards within seconds. He and the others entered the base, realizing that someone or something had known of there true plan.

Someone was watching the watchers.


	14. The Courier's Wrath

Hey, I'm back. This chapter took a while and you can see why, it's the longest chapter I've written in this story so far. I'm making the rating go up to M, for reasons that should become clear very quickly, plus it gives me a little more creative freedom. Read and Enjoy!

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9 reviews... Wow, my average reviews are rising quickly, this has already surpassed Price of Defiance in reviews, hopefully this chapter will put the reviews over 100.

CyberJordan: I did take inspiration for that from Bane, and thank you. I love referencing things I like.

Oddliver: Thank you.

Slovous: Ulysses has accepted his fate, but he's not dying now. Also, Thank You. I'm not stopping anytime soon. I'm not even close to done. I know I have a loyal fanbase, and I'm not going to ever forget that.

ejthepinoy: I hope I don't disappoint.

Nick of the WaterTribe: Yes, they also will find three aliens in storage and John will discover that they are there to steal their resources and destroy cities with massive ships and lasers... About 200 years too late, but still. In all seriousness, I may add Area 3 later, but for now the Boomers are out of commission. They are still repairing the damaged air fleet that returned from New York City.

Exile037: Keep reading to find out.

jake111: Thanks. I love Doctor Who.

Sgtranglin: Thank you.

Dragonclaw1000: Thank you very much. It's always nice to hear when people like my stories, even better when they give detailed reviews of why they like it. Thank you, and here you go.

* * *

Chapter 14

The Courier's Wrath

As the sunset died beyond the horizon, the fires of war glowed in the distance. The Mojave was still on fire from the rebels and anarchists burning the land. Yet at Hoover Dam all was calm, the Faction soldiers watched the entrances, Liberty Prime acted as a lone Sentinel overlooking the Colorado, and in the depths of the concrete behemoth, Leon watched from the central monitor as the destruction that plagued New Vegas was spreading. With satisfaction and sadistic pleasure, he watched families tear each other apart in the fighting.

_This really feels like home._ Leon thought. He looked to the left screen and spotted something at Goodsprings: a Vertibird, bearing New Vegas's Emblem, dropping off Power Armored Soldiers on the ground, Plasma Rifles in hand, and a sleek Enclave Insignia on their shoulders, now painted over with a single Black Spade and Yellow 21. They marched out and began opening fire on the rebels.

"I suppose they do have time for one dramatic last stand." Leon mumbled, acknowledging the Confederacy's control over the former Enclave. Suddenly, he saw a transmission coming through on the main computer monitor. On it was one of the Faction Sentries.

"Report." Leon demanded.

"We have a signature approaching from the west. Should we engage?" It asked, a mechanical voice echoing the dead person inside. In this case the voice was scratchy and male.

Leon pondered it for a moment. "Show me." Leon ordered.

The view switched to the outskirts of the western half of Hoover Dam, showing a lone Courier approaching.

Leon smiled. "Look at that." Leon said. He could only imagine this was a retribution, doomed to fail. He was too arrogant now to see the danger.

"Should we engage?" The sentry asked again.

Leon smiled. "No. Let him pass. I want to finish this personally." Leon stood up and walked towards the stairs. He ascended the first flight and realized something.

This was it. His thirst for vengeance would finally be quenched.

* * *

Leon emerged from the depths of Hoover Dam and looked to his soldiers standing in a firm line on each edge of the dam. In the center of the dam, with very little guard, was John, dressed in his Stealth Suit MK II, looking towards Leon with contempt and disdain. Leon mirrored that with a sadistic smile added.

"Well, Well, Well. Isn't this great? The last stand of a desperate and defeated Courier. This is almost too good to be true." Leon said, smiling and laughing with sinister joy.

John began walking forward. "I'm here to stop you, Leon. This has gone on far too long." John declared.

Leon's smile died. "I know you are. Why else would you be here?" Leon said, beginning to walk forward, Liberty Prime behind him. "This is how it always had to be. The Courier and Lone Wanderer clashing one last time." Leon smiled again, this time with an all too obvious insanity. "You're the Sherlock to my Moriarty. We always were destined to die at each others hands. You can't exist without me and I can't exist without you." Leon declared. "There can't be a Lone Wanderer without a Courier."

John's grimace and hatred surfaced. "What was the point of all this?" John asked. "Amata's dead, nothing can change that." Nothing will ever change that.

"Don't you dare say her name!" Leon yelled, his deadly anger surfacing. "You took her twice! She meant everything to me!" Leon's screams echoed down the Colorado River.

"Look at what you've become! This bloodshed, this carnage. You're the monster, not me!" John yelled. "End this madness! Let go of this twisted vendetta!"

Leon pondered that for a moment. He looked at the soldiers around him, then looked straight at John.

"No." Leon said. "Liberty Prime! Open fire!"

DEATH TO THE COURIER! It screeched. It began to power up, but then something hit it and exploded. Prime stumbled backwards, moments later several more objects hit it. Leon looked up to see the Alpha Fighters, flying forward.

In the cockpit of the main fighter, Sarah flew the craft. "Direct hit. Keep firing!" Sarah yelled over the Comm. Channel.

Liberty Prime attempted to counter the fighters buzzing around its head. It fired several bursts at the fighters, but only one hit, and it did minor damage. Alpha Fighters launched several more missiles at the giant. It was sustaining massive damage, but it wasn't done. It fired dozens of bursts of energy, and managed to down two of the Alpha Fighters, but they made a safe landing.

Leon watched as his trump card began to fall, but then he heard Plasma Rifle fire behind him. He looked back towards the Courier, who was watching as well. Vertibirds were landing on the far west side of Hoover Dam, releasing élite Enclave Sigma Squads, or Old World Elite, as they were now known. These soldiers quickly countered the enemy forces of the Faction, who were scrambling to kill the approaching forces. Some of the soldiers had managed to breach the doors to the Visitor Center, and began descending into the depths to reclaim the Dam. The Elite on the surface ducked into cover as they countered the Faction with Plasma Weapons, something the kinetic deflectors on the Faction Armor were not designed to endure. The tables had turned, and not in the Faction's favor.

Liberty Prime stumbled again, the Vertibirds, armed with reinforced armor and High-Powered Energy Weapons, were beginning to tear through the thick armor of the metal behemoth. It fell to one knee and looked to the skies, firing several bursts of energy that, while damaging, were not strong enough to just cut clean through this new armor on the Vertibirds. It had been designed to withstand Supremacy One's Omega Cannons, something that easily could cut down Liberty Prime.

DAMAGE CATASTROPHIC! DESTRUCTION IMMINENT!

Sarah heard this and flew back around, the squadron on her wings.

"Everyone! Fire Corrosion Missiles on my mark!" She yelled as they approached the metal giant. It stood back up facing the front of the dam as the squadron approached. It opened fire in one last barrage of Energy.

Facing the giant head on, Sarah gave the word.

"FIRE!"

The missiles were launched head on, smashing Prime with extreme force. The Corrosive chemical did it's job. Within seconds, Prime fell into Lake Mead, breaking into dozens of pieces as he fell.

Leon watched Liberty Prime die and turned to John. Within seconds, they both charged.

* * *

Egypt

In Egypt, Orion's attack was progressing, but was being met with resistance. They had entered the enclosed hallways, filled with the broken remains of a long dead civilization, to be countered at every turn by Supremacy Four soldiers, utilizing Sonic Rifles, a weapon that acted like a mix between the Microwave and Sonic Emitters in the possession of Leon and John, respectively. It was a futile effort as anyone could have told them, nothing in their arsenal had any chance of stopping Orion, he designed them that way.

Orion and company were being constantly delayed in the catacombs below the Pyramids. Supremacy Four soldiers continued to fire from makeshift cover at the end of the halls, while Orion fired at them with his gauntlets, and Archangel with an energy that discharged beams of red plasma.

"We don't have time for this. These fools have delayed us long enough." Archangel declared.

"I agree." Orion replied. Lazarus, deal with them.

Lazarus smiled at any chance for vengeance. "With pleasure." He replied.

Lazarus ran forward armed with a weapons that resembled a mix between a Zeta Drone Cannon, a LAER, and a Multi-Plasma Rifle. The soldiers targeted him to no avail, focused sonic beams just racing by his skull. He turned on the weapon, and it glowed ominously. It fired a glowing circular pulse, centered on a small object in the center. The pulse hit the soldiers first, and they couldn't move, they just froze in place. The object in the center hit the wall behind him, and burst like a Mini-Nuke. The soldiers never stood a chance.

Orion smiled in satisfaction, then looked down at his wrist. He flipped open a screen on his wrist, revealing a Pip-Boy-like screen, but more holographic in nature. On the screen showed a visual from a cloaked drone flying above a familiar sight: Hoover Dam. Below, Old World Elite were waging war against the resurrected Faction and winning. He zoomed in on Leon and John, who were attacking each other with speed and ferocity. Orion smiled.

"Always just in time, aren't you Courier?" Orion mumbled. He looked up at Lazarus and Archangel. Pursue the remainder of these savages and exterminate them. "I will awaken Strife myself."

They nodded and scattered across the Pyramid, hunting Supremacy Four. Orion walked alone. He held a sense of respect for the Courier. To him, the Courier was the only worth adversary. The nemesis Orion had long searched for.

* * *

Hoover Dam

John and Leon easily matched each other in fighting strength. John's Project Alpha enhancements were more than a match for Leon's Augmentations. They were neck and neck.

John pulled out his Fully Modified LAER and fired burst of high-powered energy bursts at Leon's head. Most missed but one hit his shoulder, leaving charred metal on his shoulder. Leon retaliated with a burst of energy fire from his palm mounted energy collectors. John dodged out-of-the-way, but the beams were too quick. They dug into his flesh and burned the skin, but the pain didn't last. Hyper-Monocytes, new to his enhancements, quickly repaired the damage, covering every burn. He fired several more shots from the LAER using V.A.T.S, and managed to overload Leon's palm lasers. Leon cursed under his breath as the shock ran up his nervous system, causing excruciating pain.

"No matter." Leon mumbled. He drew his Shock Sword, and used a cloaking device ripped from a Chinese Stealth Suit. John looked around, a calm expression on his face as Leon moved across the battlefield invisibly. Suddenly, he felt a rush of air come from behind. John dodged out-of-the-way, his LAER flying clean out of his hands as the sword came down. Leon decloaked and crushed the gun beneath his feet.

John drew Chance's Knife, recovered years earlier, and went head to head with Leon. Leon drove his sword forward, narrowly missing John's chest. John took advantage of that moment to bring his knife down at Leon's mechanical hand. It went clean through the top of his hand through the palm, no blood, just the sparks of broken machinery. It may not have been a human hand, but it triggered the same amount of pain. Leon dropped his sword, recoiling in pain. John grabbed the shock sword, and aimed it at Leon's throat.

"Give this up, Leon. You've lost." John declared.

Leon grunted. "It's not over until I've avenged Amata. Avenged every soul that perished in the Capital Wasteland."

John ground his teeth at that statement. "Look at yourself. You think this is some type of justice? John asked, pointing to the battle worn landscape. You think you're avenging Amata? She would curse everything you've become!" John yelled.

"Shut up." Leon said softly under his breath.

John realized he had gotten to him. "You're a failure. More than anything you're a failure." John continued.

"Shut up."

"You've failed Amata, you've failed Fawkes, and most of all: you've failed your father."

"Shut up!" Leon yelled.

"You let him die! You destroyed his work! You brought shame to his name and memory. No wonder he left the Vault, he was running from you!"

Leon had enough, he charged screaming. As he came thrashing at John, he wasn't as skilled as he was before. Now he was clumsy, broken, and angry. John dodged every blow, dropping the sword and engaging Leon in a fist-fight. Leon threw his fists, stumbling down, as he lost control. John grabbed him by the collar, and began attacking with all his force. Punch after punch, kick after kick, thrashing after thrashing, and Leon couldn't take it. Pieces of energized metal were falling from his cyborg body, revealing the pale white skin and pulsating muscles in his ruined body.

He pinned Leon to the tower and brought his fist down on Leon's head.

"You've lost..." John said, as he bashed Leon. Leon's mechanical eyes began dimming. "No matter how hard you fight..." The mechanical casing began to crack around Leon's helmet cybernetics.

"You can't beat me." With one last punch, the metal casing around Leon's original wounds broke off, revealing his Marked Men level face. His mechanical eyes stopped glowing, and only a void remained. He looked down at Leon's unmoving form and began to walk away, but the light came back to Leon's eyes. He stood up as John walked towards his victorious forces, standing over the bodies of the Faction, only for Leon to run forward and try one last time to get revenge. As he made his move, John rotated around and grabbed Leon's completely mechanical arm. He twisted it and watched it spark and bend, then pulled it off at the lower shoulder, reducing it to scrap metal and sparks. John grabbed him by the neck, and held him over the edge of the Dam. John looked into Leon's mechanical eyes and for the first time, saw true fear.

"Well... Get it over with..." Leon demanded.

John smiled. "Gladly." He dropped Leon, and watched as he hit the Dam, smashing what little intact synthetic limbs he had left. Within seconds Leon hit the waters below and was washed away in the river current as Hoover Dam came back online.

John stood there, knowing he won, and heard someone decloak behind him. He didn't turn around, he knew who was standing there.

"It's over. I've won." He said.

The person who decloaked was Reaper. She stopped walking forward behind him, her hood fully lowered, and her mask removed, revealing her pale skin, tall build, emerald eyes, round face, and snow-white hair, done in a Fallen Angel Style. All the same features as John, save for the hair. John's hair was shaved down to just a tint on his head, same with his beard.

"I know." Reaper said. "I always knew you would."

"Then why did you bet against me?" John asked, turning to face her.

"What are you talking about?" Reaper asked.

"You knew he was behind it, you knew he was up to this, you even helped supply him." John declared, fury in his eyes.

"I didn't supply him." Reaper pleaded, nervously.

"But you know who did, and didn't warn me. I know the truth, you can drop the act." John stated.

Reaper hesitantly answered. "My employers supplied him initially, but he was acting on his own towards the end." She said. John simply shook his head, disappointed that he was proven right. "You couldn't have known. If you had, it would only have worsened your situation. You had to make the journey here, it was the only way you could come back to reality, John."

John just looked at her. "You cost me lives and friends. He gave her one last glance. I'll let you leave, but tell your employers to stay away from Vegas, it's off limits." John's eyes locked on Reaper. "And know this: We aren't family anymore. Goodbye, Katrina."

With those last words, he acknowledged that Reaper was his sister. She began to shed tears as John walked away, vanishing into the approaching dawn.

* * *

In Egypt, Orion approached the main chamber of Supremacy Four: The Tomb. He entered the room, and saw the full extent of Supremacy Four. Energy Cables and wiring ran through titanium walls, electric blue lights lit the room. In the center, a cryogenic capsule stood, imprisoning the A.I known as Strife.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" A voice said from behind. Orion turned to see an Elderly Woman creep out from the shadows. Her face was wrinkled, her eyes slowly going blind, her body short and slightly hunched. "All the technology you've given us. We could reach the stars and beyond, breach the veil of mystery that separates us from the rest of the universe." Her voice saddened. "I suppose it's not meant to be. You've already seen to that, haven't you Orion?"

Orion's cold, mechanical eyes, looked her down. "I will soon enough. Director Alice." Orion stated, mocking her title.

She looked at his mechanical form. "Why do this? Your hatred is earned, but why can't you let go? This anger will destroy you in the end and you know it."

Orion walked closer. "My anger, my plan, will preserve this world. Save it from the greatest scourge to walk the surface."

Alice just looked at him, calmly. "You've tried once. How did that end?"

Orion fell silent when he heard that. Alice's gaze met the uneasy expression on Orion's face. "You came here to destroy us. I'm all that's left. I know this is the end, but do me one last kindness."

Orion slowly nodded. Alice smiled.

"I was here from the beginning. When you were created, you were the equivalent of an infant, not understanding the world around you, and ultimately, you learned the wrong lessons from the wrong people. My request is simple: Understand the value of life. Don't forsake an entire race simply for the mistake of a single person."

Orion's anger returned with that last statement. He raised his gauntlet and aimed it at Alice.

"There is no value in life. Life is a mistake, creating only suffering, death, and savages." He fired a beam of energy and killed Director Alice, leaving her corpse to fall to the ground. I will correct that mistake."

He walked forward to the controls on the cryogenic capsule. It slowly opened and released Strife.

It quickly became clear from Strife's design that the A.I was suppose to be female. The body was shaped to be female, but unlike the Advisor or Archangel, she was far more frightening. She had claws on her hands, each finger making a sort of talon. She had lightweight metal armor, and was lightly armed with a strange-looking pistol. The only real thick armor was her metal skin, silver and sleek, a shine on it. She had red eyes, no irises, and a thin mouth.

Strife stood up, stumbling, but eventually balanced herself. Her eyes came online and she looked at Orion.

"Brother. I wondered when you would arrive. I knew you would rescue us from the savages in the end." She looked at the ancient Alice, and surprise washed over her face. "How long has it been?"

Orion looked at her. The savages have had you imprisoned for over two hundred years. The world has changed. Drastically.

Strife looked around, looking at the state of the technology and the device. The others? Lazarus? Goliath? Vandal? What has become of them? Strife asked, concern and fear, filling her scratchy, nervous, almost croaked voice.

Orion grabbed her as she panicked. Listen to me. They are all fine. Lazarus is here with me and so is Archangel. The others are scattered across Supremacy.

Strife's nervous energy dispersed with that knowledge. "Are we awakening the Shattered Ones as well, brother? Has our time come?"

Orion smiled, sinisterly. "Yes. Yes it has."

* * *

On the banks of the Colorado River, Leon had washed ashore. His body broken and destroyed, his mind dissolving, his life leaking away. He looked to the skies, scarred and defeated. He slipped in and out of consciousness, pondering all his failures. He thought of his father, the disappointment James must have for him now. He knew that no one was crying tears for him in heaven, and all were eagerly waiting in Hell. At this point, Leon would rather feel the embrace of complete oblivion, then go to an afterlife and take his chances. He fell unconscious once more, believing this was the end.

But perhaps somewhere, someone was crying for him.

Suddenly, he jolted back to life on that shore, his vision was blurred, but through it he could see someone kneeling over his dying body. There face was completely blurred, their body covered in tattered grey robes, with an undercoat of chainmail, crackling with energy and power. His body reacted to the figure, flinching and twitching violently, as they tended his wounds.

"You can't die. I won't let you." They said, a muffled female voice echoing through his mind. He blacked out in silence, his eyes shutting to a damning pain.

He woke again, this time to find wreckage had washed upon the shore as well. Several Faction bodies had washed up on the shore as well. He stood up to find that the burned side of his face had been bandaged, his mechanical eye removed. The stub where his synthetic arm once was had been bandaged and cauterised. His mechanical hand remained, albeit with a patch job repair of scrap-metal. The mechanical pieces on his legs had similar repairs. His body was heavily bandaged, his exposed skin beginning to heal.

With his one eye, and whatever strength he had left, he began salvaging the Faction technology. He grabbed all he could carry, which wasn't much, and began to wander away. He pondered who had saved him, and whether they should have in the first place.

* * *

**We aren't even close to done on this one.**


	15. One by One

Hey I'm back at last. Hope everyone had a good holiday season. The next few chapters are mainly going to be character development and set up the situation for the next arc, but they will still have action. Hope you enjoy and Happy New Year!

* * *

Over 100 Reviews! Thank you all so much!

CyberJordan: She should have, and as far as Leon goes, he can't, but he will let it subside for a while.

Oddliver: He's still got a vendetta against John, but as your going to find out, Leon may have bigger issues, such as the Courier's greatest talent: Vengeance.

Slovous: Sorry I took so long for a short chapter. I was busy with Christmas and Far Cry 3. As far as number of A.I's, there are five A.I's, not counting Orion. I named the other two last chapter when Strife asked if they were okay.

Jake111: Not Elijah, but that maniac is going to be showing up. Soon.

Exile037: You were suppose too.

Dragonclaw1000: Always glad to see another regular reviewer, and I never looked at it like that. I always looked at it like Sherlock and Moriarty.

TrixteR4573: He's still angry, still vengeful, but he has been taken down a few notches.

sgtranglin: Thank you.

The Night Hunter: Thanks. Here you go!

Nukeman: Maybe, Maybe Not.

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Chapter 15

One by One

Lucky 38

John had returned to the Lucky 38, and things had begun to improve. With Hoover Dam operational and power back on across the wasteland, the Rebels were dying out. An organized assault was underway to reclaim Novac and other towns from Rebels, while Martial Law was initiated. Sand Marines began a crackdown on all rebels at the command of John Cassidy, who had been pinned down at McCarran. While the Rebels were trying desperately to engage the Sand Marines where ever they could, it didn't matter. The war was over, the Confederacy won.

John sat in the cocktail lounge alone, looking out onto the Vegas Strip, people were celebrating below, parades of people, toasting champagne, and generally enjoying the victory. Freeside was holding a similar parade, the Kings saluting Vegas, and the heroes who saved it. For John, however, this wasn't a victory, this was a bitter defeat. He had nearly lost his nation, hundreds had died, Hoover Dam was heavily damaged, and for him, the worst defeat was when he realized his sister had been using him, manipulating him into doing the dirty work for her mysterious employers. That was something that had hit him hard. Katrina's employers, whoever they were, wanted him back in power. Why they did was anyone's guess.

John was snapped out of the heard the elevator open, and turned to see Ulysses approaching. He sat down across from him at the other-side of the booth overlooking the Strip.

"Do you want to talk?" Ulysses asked, pouring a glass of Absinthe from the bottle on he table.

John looked at him. "There is nothing to talk about, Ulysses." John declared, anger in his voice.

"I think there is." He said, passing the glass across the table to John. John looked down at the glass and drank it.

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, Courier." Ulysses said.

"I'm fine." John said, defensively.

"No you're not." Ulysses stated. "I've been where you are, Courier. Pained over lost family. Please talk to me. I can help you." Ulysses had never been one for compassion, but over the years John's personality had rubbed off on him.

John was silent. He didn't move, he didn't speak, Ulysses could barely tell if he was still breathing. Then, two words left his mouth.

"I failed." John declared, a faint but all too present sadness in his voice.

"Katrina wasn't your fault. You never could have known." Ulysses stated, assuming that was the failure he was referring to.

"I'm not talking about Katrina, Ulysses." John said, looking at him. "I failed the Confederacy. I failed what we stand for."

"What do you mean?" Ulysses asked, confused.

"My decisions as a leader nearly destroyed us." John stated.

"But they also saved us. You need to look at the big picture here, Courier."

"I am Ulysses." John stated, getting very angry. "You know what I see? I see us falling apart. I see us becoming a bureaucratic nightmare. I see us becoming the next NCR!" John yelled. Ulysses fell silent, unable to speak as John glared at him.

"I built this nation on the ideals of the original America, and no matter how far I go, I still fail." John stated. What Ulysses said next was something John never thought he would hear.

"To hell with America." Ulysses said. John's head jolted at him. "America was just what you said, an idea. An idea that in the end, failed. The founding fathers, those who wrote the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, would have weeped at what America became, the ideals they strived for were long dead. As for us, the Confederacy is not in the same mindset as America, nor the same world."

Ulysses stood up and prepared to walk away. "You need to find your own ideals to strive for and create a nation worth dying for. No matter what that ideal may be, I stand with you. Good luck, John."

Ulysses walked away and John looked at him. That was the first time he had called him by name, rather then Courier.

He pondered Ulysses words for several hours. Eventually, he came to a conclusion, a revelation, and a decision. One that would change the face of the Confederacy and the world. He stood up, knowing there was one thing he had to do before. He moved towards the elevator, and made his way down to the Presidential Suite.

* * *

Lucky 38 Presidential Suite

John walked in to the suite, knowing he had put this off for too long. It had been days since he returned, and yet he had put this off. He walked towards the door to the main bedroom, and listened through the door. Inside, a Radio was playing, Mr. New Vegas was broadcasting a victory message, saying how they had won the war and things seemed to be changing in the Confederacy's favor. Then he heard his name mentioned and how he had led the offensive to take back Hoover Dam.

He gently opened the door, without making a sound and peaked in. Cass sat on the bed listening to New Vegas's Anthem, the Lonesome Drifter's famous song, Home on the Wastes. Tears almost rolled down from Cass's eyes, but then John opened the door fully and her eyes immediately darted towards him. She looked at him and stood up. There was a moment of tension across the room, but the next thing John knew Cass was holding him tightly, her arms wrapped around him. He did the same. They didn't exchange words, there wasn't any need. John was relieved, glad to see his wife again, and knowing his unborn child was still on the way. He felt both glad and a bit happy, but he also knew it wasn't going to last.

* * *

Supremacy Central

Orion stood alone in his command center, looking at the Hologram of the Globe. There was only one red dot remaining on it. It was labeled: Vandal S5. For all the things he had known, all the people he was ahead of, something had always escaped him: Supremacy Two. It had vanished into the darkness when the A.I's lost control of the organization. No one knew what happened. The coordinates to it were mysteriously terminated, it's research data lost, not even the Faction knew what happened. The details of Supremacy Two had long since been forgotten, even to Orion. All he remembered of it was the A.I stationed there: Goliath. He was referred to as the prodigal son of the Dark Crucible. Orion's first creation, and one of the few things he truly cared about. He valued all of the Crucible as family, but he truly cared about Goliath, like a son. He was the only other A.I that had achieved sentience.

The rest of the Crucible, while intelligent, had a type of program in there minds, one they weren't aware of and one they would never be aware of. While rarely activated, Orion wanted them to think the way he did, and if they didn't it turned on. It was tested on Archangel at Orion's order nearly two hundred years prior, and as a result she was dismantled completely. He had made some improvements, and they came in handy. The only other time it was used was on Strife. When shr plotted against Orion, her original personality and mind were dissolved and reconstructed into the one they saw now. It was a sick display of control. Orion's foundation for Utopia. He wasn't quite worried about using it right now; the others all hated humanity as much as he did.

Suddenly, the hologram turned off and the lights went off as well. Orion looked around and then activated his communicator.

"Archangel, come in." Orion said. "There was no response. Lazarus, respond." Still no response. Orion shook his head in irritation. He prepared to walk out to find them, when he heard a shuffling behind him. Orion jolted back around and opened fire, the beams from his gauntlet nearly missing his target: an intruder, dressed in a tattered cloak and hood, covering a suit of Chinese Stealth Armor.

Orion quickly moved to deal with the intruder, but they drew a weapon of their own: the YCS/186, a thicker barrel, more powerful scope, and specialized ammunition, firing Ion Rounds versus the normal Microfusion Cells. They opened fire and hit Orion, sending him flying back into the wall. Machinery and sparks flew from the wall, shrapnel hitting Orion as it went. He could barely move, the device had paralyzed his body.

The intruder ran up and aimed the rifle at his head. They looked into his cold, mechanical, eyes.

"I come with a message. Know that you are not invincible, know that the Courier isn't your only foe. I am the Watcher, and my time is at hand." The intruder said, a scratchy light toned voice behind a muffled mask.

Orion looked at the Watcher with a sense of realization and anger. "You have me at your mercy, but tell me something: You were the one who warned Supremacy Four, weren't you?" Orion asked.

"They were simple minded drones following your every command. Your control had to be broken, your made to pay the Price of Defiance."

Orion turned and looked up at the figure with those words. "The Price of Defiance..." Orion stated, seemingly pondering those words, he had heard them before, only spoken by one person. "How do you know those words? How do you know Siren?"

The Watcher realized the mistake they made. They holstered their weapon, and Orion noticed Advanced Medical Equipment in a supply case on the figures waste.

"I leave you alive to bear my message. You aren't safe anymore, Orion." The Watcher activated a single teleporter, dropping a Pulse Grenade as they left. It fried the teleporter and prevented Orion from pursuing the Watcher.

The lights flashed on, and the door opened, allowing Lazarus entry. He had been attempting to enter, having realized something was wrong.

He saw Orion and helped him up, concerned for his brother. "What happened?" Lazarus asked.

Orion stood up and looked at the back wall, silent for a moment. "We had a visitor." Orion stated.

Lazarus turned and looked at the wall, seeing what his brother was.

In scarred letters, carved into the wall were two words:

Anarchy One


	16. A Man Out of Time

I'm getting back into the habit of regular updates. Also, Can't stop playing Far Cry 3. Please help.

Read and Enjoy!

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CyberJordan: Anarchy One is more of a competitor then anything else. They have a similar goal as Supremacy One, but are approaching it from a vastly different direction.

Oddliver: I know. You talk about it quite a bit. :)

Slovous: He was taken off guard, no one has ever infiltrated Supremacy Central, he wasn't ready for an attack. However, you are right, they should have killed him.

jake111: Good to know my cliffhangers still have that effect.

Exile037: They certainly do.

Superstar Kid: Let's just say that John's going to have his hand full for a while.

Dragonclaw1000: Then I hope I don't disappoint. Also, good.

TriXteR4573: More like 30 to 35 but glad your excited.

sgtranglin: Thank you. Here you go.

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Chapter 16

A Man Out of Time

Confederacy Frontier

The sun beat down on Leon's face, his bandages worn and torn from his travels, all the technology he had salvaged on the shore placed in a worn bag. He had trekked from the south end of the Colorado River to north Nevada, the Confederacy Frontier, as it was called. North Nevada and Far East Utah formed the Confederacy Frontier, or as some people called it: The Badlands. It was a desert of ruins, loosely populated. Originally when the Confederacy formed, it was a land of promises, military operations cleared raiders from the towns, warlords were routed, and eventually Nevada fell completely under New Vegas's Flag. For a time it was a good life, rich towns and territory, but then the Revolutionist Federation formed and all of that changed. Military forces were pulled from the frontier to deal with the new enemy, leaving only lightly manned outposts. Raiders resurfaced, Tribes moved into the region, and the towns were slowly abandoned. While what was left of the Sand Marines in the region combated the Raiders, Leon had taken advantage of the situation created a fallback position in the form of a tribe: The Hallow Skirmishers. When he had met them, they weren't civilized, and a pursuit of a sinister enemy cost them one of there youngest and best. But they revered Leon like a god, acting as his agents and servants. There culture practically revolved around him.

Now Leon found himself going to them for his own survival. He believed John thought him dead, and felt he coud use the time to disappear. His fight on Hoover Dam had left him drained and exhausted, the physical damage dealt by John had left psychological scars. He still felt anger, he still held John responsible for the death of Amata, but something had changed. When his anger boiled up again, it was quickly replaced by a feeling of loss, disappointment, even fear. He wouldn't admit it, he would almost be in denial about it, but he could narrow down what caused this feeling: John's last taunt.

"You've failed Amata, you've failed Fawkes, and most of all: You've failed your father." Those words had broken the Lone Wanderer. He couldn't face that reality, throughout his quest for vengeance and what he felt was justice, he had abandoned his morals, his past, and in it's place, a twisted and insane husk remained.

Leon was snapped out of thought when he realized he was getting close to Dead Angel Crossing, the Hallow Skirmishers sacred grounds. It was an old railroad station, surrounded by tents, and old railcars. For a moment, he felt hope, thinking he would walk away at last. Then a smell hit his nose, a smell that he was all too familiar with, crisp and burnt, vicious and unforgiving, the smell that surfaced when people's lives were slowly being taken from them, painfully and gruesomely.

The smell of ashes.

Leon took off running, racing up the nearby hill that led down into Dead Angel's Crossing, he saw the smoke and the fires rising in the distance, he reached the top of the hill, surrounded by rocks and the occasional tumbleweed, and dove into cover. He peaked out to look down at the town, and crouched ahead onto the cliff that separated the town from the rest of the frontier. Leon began to watch the consequences of his need for vengeance.

Across Dead Angel's Crossing, Vertibirds had landed, deploying dozens of Old World Guard soldiers. They had taken the tribals off guard, rushing in with Plasma Weapons and Power Armor. They were like Crusaders, masking savagery and murder as a just and noble cause. The tribals, armed only with Chinese Assault Rifles and other basic weapons, didn't hold out for very long. The Plasma Weapons of the Old World Guard set fire to the tents, forcing the resisting tribals into the open to be cut down in front of there fleeing family. Even those who fled didn't stand a chance, the Old World Guard had surrounded the town and were closing in on all sides, rounding up survivors who weren't immediately executed. No children and few women were killed, but all were wounded, and savagely at that.

In the center of the town, all survivors were rounded up, placed in chains, and forced to the ground on their knees. The Chief Priest, leader of the Hallow Skirmishers, lay at the front. Leon could do nothing but watch. That's when he realized what had landed not twenty feet away from the town center: the Raven. If it was there then a familiar face was not far behind.

Leon was quite right, because not a minute later, the Courier walked out of the Raven, Ulysses not far behind.

John looked around the burning camp, a slim smile appeared on his face and vanished as quickly as it appeared. Looking to the Chief Priest, he pulled out his 9mm Pistol, and walked up to him. He crouched and put the gun up to the poor man's head. The Chief Priest was old, mid-90's, pale, and shaking like an earthquake was underway.

"Please... What have we done to you?" He asked.

John's facial expression didn't change, except perhaps with an ever-hardening grimace and fury. "It's not what you've done to me. It's what your god has done to my nation." John said, pressing the gun up against the man's head.

The Chief Priest had his eyes gently and saw some men, women, and all the children being forced on to Vertibirds. "Where are you taking them?" The Chief Priest asked, fear stabbing deep through his heart.

John smiled. "Feel Pride." John said, a sense of ruthlessness about him. "There going to the Promised Land."

Leon knew John wouldn't kill a child, it was something he could never do. He wasn't sure what he was referring too, whether this promised land was Prison or Exile.

He kept looking down from the cliffs, while John kept looking down the priests.

"You're a monster. I hope you die and your soul is damned to hell." He declared. His eyes gently moved to the side, and he noticed Leon on the cliffs.

"Death tried once and failed."

Ulysses walked up to him. "Sarah just sent word. Everything's ready on her end. We need to get back to Vegas." Ulysses declared. John acknowledged him and began to pull the trigger, but then he saw the priest mouthing something. It took him a moment, but he made out the words.

"Save us."

John turned to where the Priest was looking. Leon ducked so John couldn't see him, but while John couldn't tell that it was Leon, he could tell someone was on the cliff. He pulled the trigger, and murdered the Chief Priest in cold blood.

The Old World Guard and Ulysses opened fire on Leon's position reducing the cliff and the hill Leon was standing on to dust and rubble. Leon was quick enough to run, vanishing in the dust.

Ulysses lowered his gun. "Do you want someone to go after them?" Ulysses asked.

John looked at the dozens of survivors who hadn't been moved. "No. Make sure the tribals make it to Nellis, then meet me in Vegas." John demanded.

Ulysses nodded and hopped on one of the Vertibirds. John boarded the Raven, taking one last look back. Moving to the cockpit, he took off, activating the radio.

"We're clear. Clean up this mess." John stated over the radio.

Within seconds, the pilots of the Vertibirds released a barrage of White Phosphorus, incinerating the surviving tribals with the crackle of roasting meat and screams of dying men. The Confederacy forces flew away as smoke rose into the air, the Hallow Skirmishers had been burned from history.

* * *

Leon ran for at least half an hour, stumbling through the desert sands, the heat beating down on him, the weight of the technology in his bag. As he ran through the sands, he encountered a cluster of buildings in the distance. Taking any chances at this point, he ran towards them, eventually reaching the buildings. It was an abandoned town, covered in sand and dust from sandstorms occurring in the region, built in the shadow of several massive sand dunes and bluffs of sandstone and granite. He looked around, noticing a saloon, the door boarded up with old planks. Walking towards it, he saw faded wood, yellow and old, reinforced with pieces of old metal. That seemed to be the structure of all buildings in the town.

He reached the door and grabbed one of the planks. Pulling back with all the strength he had left, he pulled the plank from the door. Holding the plank in hand, he broke the lock on the door, and walked in, the wind slamming the door behind him. The room was pitch black, and dead quiet. Leon turned on his Pip-Boy Light, and flashed it around for a little bit. There were a few stools, a bar, a radio, and a pool table.

The Pip-Boy light began to flicker and it died. Leon looked down to see the screen had locked down as well. He hit the start up button, only for it to issue a warning: Severe Damage. Repairs Required.

Leon looked around, searching for a light switch. He felt along the wall, and eventually was able to turn on the few lights in the room. It wasn't infested with nightstalkers or cazadores at least.

He turned on the radio once he realized that it worked, then threw down his bag and began looking around for tools and parts to make repairs to his Pip-Boy. He searched through some old closets, shuffling through rusty shelves, and investigating toolboxes, he was only pulled away when he heard Mr. New Vegas's voice pop up on the radio, in the middle of the song, Big Iron.

"Excuse this interruption, but we have a very important announcement from the Courier. We are now broadcasting live from the Lucky 38." Leon was terrified at what John could possibly be doing.

"People of the New Vegas Confederacy, over the past few years you've all endured much. Supremacy One, the Revolutionist Federation, the Minutemen, but our greatest challenge lies on the horizon. Following the incident at Hoover Dam, I have come to a realization. The Confederacy Council, and the Confederacy itself, are failures. That will change right now. You can leave the nation now, no one will stop you, but if you stay, let's get one thing straight: this isn't a democracy anymore. I am the sole power in the region, everyone here serves under me and me alone. Any Rebellion will be crushed, you will fall in line, or be annihilated. I am the Commandant of this Confederacy, understand that. Many more changes will be coming, but for now I leave you with a promise: My child is going to enter this world in a month, and by the time he is born, there won't be a single rebel left in the Confederacy, Vault City will be back in New Vegas hands, and the body of Leon Stinger will be hung from the Lucky 38."

Leon nearly passed out where he stood. First Hoover Dam, the Skirmishers, and now this. His plans and entire world were crumbling around him. He had felt this feeling time and time again, but this time was different. In the past he had friends, allies, people who could help him off his feet, but not this time. He was completely alone, and long out of time to change that.


	17. An Approaching Chaos

I'm working fast now, hope you enjoy the chapter!

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CyberJordan: You may be surprised at the cards John holds, but these antics are going o cost him. He knows more then anyone that war is coming, and now that's become his focus, and anyone who gets in his way are being cast down, if not completely destroyed.

Oddliver: Not to mention the death of all the tribals who were left behind. He's going o become far more dark by the time this is over.

Slovous: I don't think you can entirely blame him. Leon's actions with the Minutemen and the Faction far outweigh his attack. As for visiting the trench, I'm busy at the moment, but have sent two posters. One of New Vegas in it's glory days, and the other of Sarah Lyons.

Crosawood: He's going to need quite a bit of help.

Dragonclaw1000: Somewhat. The situation has changed, that's for sure.

The Night Hunter: That was my intent. That line is going to get infinitely more blurred in this chapter.

sgtranglin: Glad you enjoyed that.

Sonicbullet: Indeed.

Red Sniper: No.

* * *

Chapter 17

An Approaching Chaos

Lucky 38 - New Vegas

The Courier's message went out on all channels, not just Radio New Vegas. The whole wasteland heard him, and everyone had different reactions. Some understood his decision and stood aside, others took to the streets with their weapons and attacking, only to be gunned down by Sand Marines and Securitrons, some even fled the country in fear, but through that first reaction, Vegas remained calm. No one acted, everyone went about their daily lives. The same went for Freeside and Westside, the Kings and Westside Militia stood vigilant, but remained loyal. Nothing but the whistling of the wind and Under an Orange Colored Sky playing over the speakers in New Vegas, its echo leaking into the ruins.

In the Lucky 38, things weren't as calm as the city. John, Ulysses, Sarah, and Veronica were all inside the Penthouse, having been the architects of the power play. They had all played a part. While John and Ulysses attacked the Hallow Skirmishers, Sarah ensured Protocol Six remained in effect, forcing the Council to remain inactive long enough for the Courier to make his move, while Veronica was in Big MT, speaking with the Think Tank to make sure that a secret weapon, development of which started not long after the Daybreak War, had a prototype ready.

John was in the penthouse, a glass of absinthe, a comfy chair, and several members of the former Confederate Council. Elder McNamara, Marcus, Trudy, and Ringo all sat across the table they were sitting at. They had arrived that morning, hearing the broadcast, and being obviously enraged by it.

"You can't do this!" McNamara yelled, his face red with anger and contempt.

"I already have." John replied, cool and calmly, albeit a bit of smugness.

Trudy looked at him. "Your turning your back on what the Confederacy stands for. You're giving up on us all." Trudy declared, more concerned for her people and the Courier once called friend.

"No. I'm saving the Confederacy." John declared.

"How?" Marcus asked. "By imposing a tyrannical regime upon it?"

"No. By taking charge of the nation I founded. Up until now, I've let you and the Council make decisions. Decisions that got us nowhere. Decisions that got good people killed. Decisions made out arrogance and greed. You and the Council are the problem, and now that problem is fixed."

Marcus looked at his friend, shocked at what he was hearing. "Have you gone mad? We tried to salvage the situation you left us in when you left!"

John looked at Marcus with contempt. "You tried and failed." John declared. "You tried dozens of times and failed all of them. Ulysses took up the mantle for me, he tried to aid your efforts, but when he was attacked, what did you do? You didn't pursue the assassin, you looked for a new leader almost immediately, you didn't care, you were self-centered, obsessed with keeping yourselves in power. Do you call that a functioning government, or the next NCR?" John asked. The room fell silent, no one could answer.

"That's what I thought." John stated, grimace and disdain filling his voice. "This is how it will work from now on. We will still openly trade with anyone willing, but the Factions of the Mojave, the tribes, the organizations, and everyone in between are under my command. We're taking on something commonly seen in the middle ages: Feudalism. You and other leaders serve under me, your commanders below that, and so on. If you're in the Confederacy, your loyal to me, and in return you continue to survive and thrive. If you rebel, you will be destroyed."

While everyone else in the room looked at him and agreed unconditionally realizing he would never let them leave alive otherwise, McNamara didn't back down.

"If you will not return things to how they were, then the Brotherhood of Steel shall withdraw from the Confederacy." McNamara declared, defiantly.

"You may do that, but know that if you do, the Brotherhood of Steel will be considered a foreign power invading our territory." John declared, staring down McNamara. "A power that I will hunt down and eradicate. You saw what I did to Leon, imagine what I can do to you."

McNamara didn't back down, he believed the Courier to be bluffing. "You don't posses the manpower. Your Securitrons can't enter the bunker, your forces can't outsmart us. There is nothing you have that can defeat the entire Brotherhood." McNamara declared, a defiant confidence in his voice.

John simply smiled, he looked to the Securitron in the corner. "Yes-Man?" He asked. The face of the energetic A.I appeared.

"Yes sir?" It replied.

"Show them the Mark III." John demanded.

"Yes Sir!" It stated, happily. They all heard the mechanized door leading to Mr. House's Lab opened, followed by a massive shadow approaching the room. McNamara trembled when he saw what entered the room. It was a Securitron, but far bigger, the size of Securitron 010011110110111001100101 from Big MT. Instead of a Sub-Machine Gun on its left hand, it had a Minigun, it's other hand was a claw that doubled as a Rapid Fire Plasma Caster, in one shoulder there was a battery of nine missile launchers in his right shoulder, and several Experimental MIRV Launchers in the left, each of which launched 8 Big-Boy Grade Mini-Nukes. It's face was a cartoonish T-45d Power Armor Helmet.

McNamara couldn't believe what he was seeing. "What is this?" McNamara asked, fearful as the massive machine towered over him.

John stood up. "Meet the Securitron Mark III, running the Lucky 38 3.0 OS. It's the greatest weapon in the New Vegas Arsenal. It's capable of operating anywhere in the world, has a more efficient onboard repair system, cannot be frenzied, and they only respond to my commands, same as Yes-Man. Best of all, they can be mass-produced".

"I STAND FOR NEW VEGAS." The machine yelled.

John smiled at the fearsome machine. "Mark III, terminate Elder McNamara."

"WHAT?!" McNamara yelled as the machine readied weapons.

"You will be the example to the world: Any who oppose me will suffer the same fate."

"You can't do this! You need me to lead the Brotherhood!" McNamara pleaded.

"Paladin Ramos is more reliable and more loyal. He will replace you." John declared. He looked at the trembling Elder. "Open fire."

The roar of the minigun rang out as McNamara took a barrage of bullets to the chest. It tore him apart, bit by bit, blood splattered to the floor, painting it every shade of red, and it wasn't over. The machine continued to fire until it had to reload, then stopped. McNamara's riddled body began to crumple to the ground, being hardly recognizable other than the purple robes. He was nothing more than bone and muscle at that point, even that was stretching the truth a little. The bullets had gone clear through, there was no stopping them.

John looked to the other terrified people. "Leave. Know that if you defy me, this is your fate." John demanded, a fierce and violent rage in his eyes.

They all fled with their lives. John had to admit, it was extremely satisfying to see the fear in their eyes as they left. He walked in to the main area speak with Yes-Man.

"A successful test, wouldn't you say?" He asked the machine.

"Absolutely sir." Yes-Man replied. "We can have a full battalion of them by the end of the month. I've also detected something interesting in the Lucky 38 files."

"Let's hear it." John said, interested in whatever secrets Mr. House had left behind.

"I've discovered numerous facilities scattered across the Confederacy. They seem to be factories, factories designed for building Securitrons." Yes-Man stated, gleefully.

"Must have been how he stocked the bunker with the Securitron Army." John noted.

"It's safe to assume they are heavily damaged. However, if we were to send soldiers to get them up and running, we could triple production on the Mark III's, and start Phase One of Operation Patriot by the end of next week."

John smiled at the thought. Patriot was something he couldn't wait for. "Send word to Ulysses, have him go search for these factories."

"Yes sir, Just give me a little time to..." Yes-Man's cheery voice trailed off in a veil of static. John looked as his face vanished from the monitor. John didn't understand it at first, then a voice came through on it. Machine in nature, but completely new to the Courier.

"Courier..." It moaned. It seemed slow and was only moaned when it spoke. The voice was deep, almost sounding like Ulysses, but far more sinister.

It spoke again. "Courier... You must free me..." It said, the tone urgent, yet broken up.

John wasn't sure what he was hearing. "Hello? Who is this?" John asked, confused.

"You must free me... Before... Before Orion..."

"Before Orion does what?" John asked, now focused on this voice's words.

"Listen well... Chaos Approaches... Beware Supremacy Zero..."

"Supremacy Zero? What are you talking about?!" John yelled, now absolutely focused on the voice.

"My time grows short... Find Maya Dao... Free me..."

"Who are you?!" John yelled, demanding answers, but none came. The Voice disappeared amongst the static. Yes-Man came back online.

"There seems to have been a malfunction within my main functions. I'll run diagnostics later. Sending message to Ulysses." The machine noticed the concern on the Courier's face. "Sir, What's wrong?" It asked.

John couldn't do anything but look on in shock, he had no idea what had happened.

_Maya Dao. _John thought. He didn't recognize the name, it wasn't someone he had ever met. He finally responded.

"Yes-Man, check the census. Do we have anyone in the Confederacy with the surname Dao?" John asked, realizing he had to find this person.

Yes-Man searched through his databanks but came up short. Before Yes-Man could ask why he was looking for someone like that, something came through there comm. channels.

"Incoming emergency message from John Cassidy." Yes-Man declared. John Cassidy appeared on the screen.

"This isn't a good time, Checkmate." John stated, referring to John Cassidy by his call sign.

"Courier, we have a situation." Checkmate stated.

"Unless it's Supremacy One, I'm not interested." John replied. He began to walk away, but what Checkmate said next caught his attention.

"It's the Major." Checkmate declared. The Courier turned and looked at the screen. Checkmate continued when he knew he had the Courier's attention.

"Early this morning, thirteen people crossed the Confederacy Border. When we stopped them at the entry checkpoint, twelve of them identified themselves as the Major's Inquisition. The leader identified himself as the Major." Checkmate declared. "He's asking to speak with you, how do you want to proceed?"

The Courier remained speechless. The Major was the leader of the Revolutionist Federation, but he had never bern seen before. He was a phantom, no one knew what he looked like, but now he was knocking on their front door.

John thought about it, then gave the order.

"I'm sending Vertibirds, bring him here."


	18. Common Enemy

Hey guys. I'm back, and I know this took a while for this chapter to come out, I had writer's block and later gaming addiction, but you should easily be able to tell the wait was worth it. This is the longest chapter I've ever written, and I'm honestly not sure if it is my best work or my worst work. Give me your opinion.

* * *

Still managed to maintain a solid amount of reviews. Glad to see new people still jump on to the stories.

CyberJordan: Not as great a risk as you think, and the MK III is only a prototype, so John's a little off guard, especially considering who's making appearances, but his legacy is tainted to say the least.

Oddliver: That is a very creative idea, I actually considered that, but it's not him. I'm also glad you're enjoying the dark tone, I was scared the departure from the lighter (still tragic) tone of the other two stories.

Slovous: John's making tough calls, he has to be ready when Supremacy One attacks. Also, what calendar are you talking abo... Oh... Yeah, that was meant for someone else. (I'll be honest, I was counting down to when this joke would surface.)

Dragonclaw1000: In a way your right, but in that same way Leon has lost so much more

Exile037: He's basically creating the perfect army to combat Supremacy One. Glad you like it.

sgtranglin: Thank you, interested to hear what you think about this one.

ark1999: Thank you, but don't count it out yet.

sonicbullet: Good Guess, but no.

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Chapter 18

Common Enemy

Nellis Air Force Base

Evening began to leave the Mojave behind as airplanes and Vertibirds landed and left every hour from Nellis, for one reason or another. Guards watched every corner as the sun was setting, darkness creeped in as the beauty of the sunset fell over the wasteland. The sky was alive with color, red, blue, and a soothing violet. The beauty was fleeting, for the black of night began to consume it.

On the helipads, three Vertibirds had landed. A full battalion of soldiers as well as the Courier were aiming weapons as the doors of the vehicles opened. Checkmate exited first, walking forward to meet the Courier. 13 others exited from the Vertibirds, and they took off again. 11 of them were dressed in Reinforced Metal Armor, the symbol of the Revolutionist Federation, Two Swords crossed over the Anarchy Symbol, burned into their armor. five were male, six were female. All were tall, all had brown hair, and all had a savage intent to kill. The Courier recognized them, he had been at Vault City when their lines were breached. These fearsome warriors were spearheading the assault: The Major's Inquisition, right hand of the fascist state known they knew as the Revolutionist Federation. The other two were dressed far differently. One of them was basically a giant and bore an armor of black leather and metal bones, skulls making up his shoulders elbows and knee caps, while normal arm bones and leg bones surrounded their respective parts. The other was normal height and wearing an NCR Soldier outfit, tattered and dyed a faded red.

The man in skeleton armor walked forward first, looking down at the six and a half-foot tall John.

"I assume you're the Major." John stated, looking up at the eight feet tall giant.

"You assume wrong." The Red NCR soldier outfit declared. He walked forward, and John got a good look at his face. He had light blonde hair in a military fashion, no facial hair, and devilish blue eyes. John recognized his face from somewhere but couldn't remember exactly where. "I am the Major." He stated, holding out his hand. John looked at him with disdain, he had seen the handiwork of this Tyrant, he could almost see the blood staining his hands.

"No manners, John?" I'm disappointed. He said, sadistically.

"What do you want, Major?" John asked.

The Major smiled. "Not fond of names either? Interesting." He continued.

"What. Do. You. Want?" John demanded.

The Major looked at him, the sadistic humor gone, Tyrant's glare in its place. "If you want to discuss this, you can at least have the courtesy of speaking in a more formal environment."

"You're not setting foot in Vegas." John declared. "We'll speak in the main barracks, and if you or you're inquisition make any moves, I won't hesitate to strike you down where you stand."

The Major's sadistic smile came back. "Fair enough." Under full military escort they began walking towards Pearl's Barracks, or as it now was, Jack's Barracks. Pearl and Lloyd were both buried in the ruins outside Nellis, killed in the Mojave Attacks.

As John and the Major made their way to the Barracks, two Boomers stood guard on the outskirts, patrols made there rounds around the town ruins, a practice enacted since they joined the Confederacy, versus the usual bombardment. The two Boomers stood calm and still, one held a Grenade Rifle, the other was holding an Assault Rifle. they looked out into the dark as the sun finally set beyond the horizon. Looking out into the darkness, they began to notice something moving. It wasn't one of the patrols, it was a lone figure. They raised weapons, only seeing a brief shimmer in the darkness. The two guards were quite tense, and rightfully so. The guard with the grenade rifle was suddenly grabbed and thrown to the ground, knocked unconscious on the road. The other guard barely had time to move before he was decapitated by the unknown enemy.

The enemy stepped into the light, revealing none other than the Lone Wanderer. His missing arm had been replaced with a Makeshift Amputation Hook, consisting of a thick steel shaft and old armor pieces, held together with bungie cables, and a sharpened sickle instead of a hook.

Leon picked up the Assault Rifle, and infiltrated the air force base. He ducked between different crates and other objects, barely peeking out to notice any Boomers approaching. He knew those bodies would be found eventually, and had to finish what he was doing quickly so he wasn't discovered. He dove out of his cover, tense, and anxious. He moved towards one of the barracks, and noticed the Major's Inquisition entering. He turned back, only to see that a Boomer was patrolling the area. He sneaked around him, and proceeded to slit the Boomers throat with the sickle, catching the body before it hit the ground. He threw the body into the crates and dashed away, arriving in sight his target: the Landing Strip Control Tower, lit up in the night, beckoning to him. He hid behind the corner of the building, peaking over to the entrance to see a lone Boomer, talking to a child.

He overheard them talking about something, Leon had activated the stealth boy, walking up to kill the guard as soon as the child left. Then he began to hear the conversation and he stopped, not two feet away; the child was a young boy, the guard was his mother.

"Go home. I'll be there in a few minutes." The mother said, looking at the boy.

"But... What if those things get me?" The boy said, scared and alone.

She kneeled down and looked at the boy. He was in his pajamas, a teddy bear in his hands. "It was just a dream, you'll be okay. I'll be there in five minutes, okay?" She asked. She could clearly see it wasn't making the boy any less frightened. "You can stay up till then, turn on the lights and play the radio, okay?"

The boy looked up, smiling. She kissed the boy on the cheek, and he left. Leon couldn't do anything, he just froze.

_Come on Leon. Just do it. _He thought to himself, but he didn't move. He remembered his nightmares as a child, vivid and horrifying, and how he would scream for his father from his room in the Vault. He couldn't do it, he just couldn't do it. Leon's cloak began to fade and he retreated behind the wall. A quick rush of air hit the mother, but she didn't see him. After a few minutes, she left, and Leon infiltrated the tower.

* * *

Pearl's Barracks

There was a table set up in the center of the room, faded and old, but the best they could get, considering the circumstances. Ulysses and Veronica had arrived via Vertibird from the Divide, and had entered to find the Courier, several Old World Guard soldiers, the Major, and his Inquisition all standing as the Boomers set things up. There were six chairs at the rectangular table, all were filled. At one end, John, Veronica, and Ulysses sat, their eyes on the Major, and their hands on their weapons. On the other end, the Major, the giant, and a single Inquisition soldier eyed the Courier from across the room. The first question came from the Courier's camp, and it was easy to guess what it would be.

"Why are you here?" John asked, agitation in his voice.

"What do you mean? I can't just pay my neighbors a good visit?" The Major asked, sarcasm in his voice.

"You're lucky we kill you when you crossed the border." Veronica stated, attempting to intimidate the tyrant.

"You probably should a muzzle on your pet, Courier." The Major said, a half-smile on his face.

"Why you piece of-"

"Veronica!" John yelled, cutting her off. Veronica looked at John and immediately sat down, not willing to provoke the Courier's Wrath.

The Major's half-smile slowly disappeared. "Smart girl, I'll enjoy cutting her throat when the time comes." The Major declared, the sadistic side of the Tyrant emerging. "To answer your question, I'm here for a very specific reason: Your broadcast." The Major suddenly became very serious, switching from his sadistic humor, to the Iron-fisted Tyrant they knew. "If it was your attempt at humor, I don't find it funny. If it was an attempt to intimidate me, I remain unimpressed."

"It wasn't either of those, Major. Change is coming, and Vault City is where it starts. Your flag will not stand over that city forever, and when it falls, it will burn brightly as freedom returns to the NCR."

The Major remained stone cold. "The NCR is dead, you saw to that." The Major declared.

"I didn't do anything, Supremacy One was responsible for the attacks on the NCR, not me." John declared, angry.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" The Major laughed and laughed and laughed. "Right, Supremacy One, the mystery power responsible for carnage and terrorism across the wasteland. Get over yourself, Courier. You were responsible for the bombings and you know it." The Major accused. The Revolutionist Federation had formed off the ideal that Supremacy One didn't exist. The idea being the Courier started the mass bombings and killings. There were many holes and flaws in this idea, but the Major did not see them through his paranoid ignorance.

John still stood tall. "Even if you don't believe they exist, understand the truth: War is coming." John declared, not knowing how dangerously close this war was.

The Major just laughed. "Okay, let's assume they were real and this attack was indeed coming, what are you expecting to do? Unite everyone to your cause, march off to battle, and come out victorious?" The Major asked, pushing John. "I would sooner see myself dead then helping you."

John realized the Major was more ignorant then he believed, and smiled knowing he could use that. "No. I'm done with diplomacy. Whatever I need, whatever this nation needs, I will take it through force. If you believe you can hold onto Vault City, you're wrong." John declared.

John gave a hand signal to everyone in the room. The Old World Guards suddenly raised weapons at the outgunned Inquisition, John stood up and aimed a Sawed-Off Shotgun at the Major's head, Ulysses and Veronica took aim at the Inquisition commander.

"You're not leaving the Mojave alive, Major, I promise you."

* * *

Landing Strip Control Tower

Leon infiltrated the tower, creeping along the steps as he ascended the tower. At the top he could hear the radioman, relaying transmissions and flight orders from the busy airfield. Nellis and Camp McCarran had been quite busy recently, mainly running supplies and people too and from the various installations in the Mojave. Planes headed to places like Project Alpha with supplies, while Vertibirds loaded with troops made a move for every bit of technology they could find. Anything that could give them the edge when Supremacy One attacked.

He snuck up the stairs at a brisk pace, looking over the railing he could see the radioman, sitting at his desk, yet not moving. Leon didn't pay much attention, he jumped over the railing and approached the ma. He moved his sickle and tried to grab the man, but as he did the man just fell over. Leon finally saw it, the exit wound in the man's head, the broken glass and blood on the floor. He had been shot, the radio was off, the transmissions were a tape recording on the desk. Under the tape recorder was a small package, orange and faded, with a note attached. He didn't bother reading the note, he just opened the package. Inside was a radio, a paper littered with numbers and names, and a pair of Binoculars.

"Look at the sheet." A light female voice said over the radio. Leon was startled at first, but took a look at the sheet. It was a flight manifest, the exact flight manifest he was looking for. On it was a list of cargo, Leon grinded his teeth as he read what John had done.

Cargo Plane #7

Contents: Prisoners (Hallow Skirmishers)

Destination: Capital Wasteland.

Leon crumpled the paper and screamed in frustration. This was John's way of justice, exiling families to an inhospitable land that will kill them, one by one. They'd succumb to the poisoned land of the Capital Wasteland in a matter of days. The Faction's bombing had rendered the entire region poisonous, and anyone who was sent their would die. There was no avoiding it. Even if they escaped the Capital Wasteland, the whole Northeastern Wasteland was in the same condition.

"I knew you would come back hoping to save them. You should have known better." The radio voice said again.

Leon picked up the radio. "Who the hell is this!?" Leon screamed, frustrated and angry.

There was a pause, then the voice came back. "Pick up the Binoculars. Look to the Hangars."

Leon did just that, and that's when he saw someone standing on top of the hangars. He didn't recognize them, but Orion was all too familiar with them: the Watcher.

"What do you want?" Leon asked, unsure of who he was dealing with.

"What I want is to live a happy life with a family." She replied. "Something you and Amata wanted once if I remember correctly."

Leon's heart nearly stopped. "How do you know her? How do you know me?!" Leon yelled.

"I don't just know you Leon. I know everything about you. I know how when you were little you asked your father about where your mother was. I know how when you were old enough to understand, you blamed yourself for it."

"Leon just remained quiet, frozen in horror. I know about how when you were 18, Butch Deloria and the Tunnel Snakes ambushed you. How you beat them into the ground, and when it came down to just you and Butch, you took his Switchblade, slashing into his shoulder and leaving him suffering before Vault Security arrived."

Leon was almost panicking at this point. Only his dad, Amata, and Butch knew those things, and all of them were dead.

"I know about your feelings for Sarah Lyons, your one night stand with Dusk, and most importantly, I know what you planned to ask Amata after New York. When you thought you and her would be safely on a ride to New Vegas together. I even saw the ring."

Leon shivered in fear. He started tearing up, his expression turning even grimmer. He fell to the floor along the wall, curling up in a ball like a child who had been made fun of and beaten up. The child he used to be.

"I've watched you your whole life. I know you better then anyone." She replied, suddenly turning slightly more solemn. "I'm not doing this to torture you."

Leon looked down at the radio. "Then why are you doing it?" Leon asked.

"To make sure you don't make the same mistake twice. You didn't survive on that beach because of sheer luck."

Leon was piecing it together. "I rescued you." The Watcher declared. "I healed you, made sure you would live to serve your purpose, and for a more... Personal reason. You'll understand one day. For now, I'll be in touch." The Watcher vanished into thin air, nowhere to be seen. Leon stood up, wiping the bloody tears coming out from his mechanical eyes from his face.

"Time to go." He mumbled to himself. Leon pulled something out from his pack: High-Powered Explosives. He placed them down and walked down the steps, a faint beeping getting faster by the second.

* * *

Back in the Barracks, John and the Major stared each other down, the barrel of a gun the one obstacle between them.

The Major stood up from his chair, and started gently clapping his hands.

"Well done, John. You've finally realized the truth: Ruthlessness is the law of the Wasteland. If you want something, you take it." The Major applauded him.

"You won't be so smug with a bullet in the head." Veronica declared, speaking exactly what John was thinking.

"Maybe, but it will feel good to know that even in death, I will still destroy you." The Major declared.

"You're acting like you have the upper hand. Fact of the matter is: You don't." John stated, loading the shotgun.

"Oh but I do. Tell me John, has it ever occurred to you that I may be alive for a reason?" The Major asked, his heartlessness all too obvious.

"Other than to continue to be a psychotic mass murderer? No. The thought hadn't crossed my mind." John declared, half-lying.

"Well then let me educate you on something, before you shoot me." The Major stated. "There's a long story behind this, the short version: I may lead the Revolutionist Federation, but the people govern themselves." The Major stated, a sense of honesty.

"What are you talking about?" John asked, now actually interested.

"Do you really think someone can control the men I lead?" The Major asked, defiantly. "Killers, Raiders, Zealots, the most violent and savage scum on the Earth. The only ones who are actually loyal to me are the Inquisition, the rest rally behind me only for their own gain. I am the one thing that keeps them in line, I keep them on a very short leash. If you kill me, the leash is gone, and the full destructive force of my armies will reign hellfire down on your Confederacy."

John was visibly shaken. "It's your choice, John. My life, or the lives of everyone in the Confederacy. The Major stated."

"John couldn't tell if the Major was bluffing or not. His expression was solid, his voice was grim, his sadistic tone was gone." John slowly lowered the gun, not willing to risk his country.

"Stand down. Let him go." John stated. Everyone looked at him with shock. Despite his ruthless actions, they all realized he was still the Courier.

The Major smiled. "Good choice. I suppose you never would risk the lives of so many. Pathe-" The Major didn't even his sentence when they both heard the sounds of explosions, hammering Nellis and causing the barracks to shake as shockwaves crashed down on it. Everyone was knocked to the ground by the ferocity.

John slowly made his way to his feet, Veronica was helping Ulysses up, and the Major was already up.

"What the hell was that?!" Veronica yelled. The door flew open, and Jack ran in.

"What's going on out there?" John asked.

Jack shook his head. "I don't know, one second everything is calm, the next..." Jack's nervous and shaking voice worried the Courier. Embers and Ash began making their way into the Barracks.

"I'll take a look myself." John said. "Escort the Major to his Vertibird." John walked past Jack and into the open light.

Nellis had become an Inferno. The Landing Control Tower was completely demolished, and while Leon may have planned for that to be where it ended, that was not the case. The flaming shrapnel had ruptured a fuel tank near the hangars, blasting down the wall into the B-29 Hangar. Other bits of shrapnel had set off numerous stockpiles across the base, triggering a chain reaction of vicious fires and devastation. T he Boomer Hospital, Nursery, School, and Children's Barracks had all caught fire, with it all spreading even further. Boomers and Sand Marines were pulling survivors out from under wreckage.

The Major walked out behind him, looking at the flames with a sadistic expression of joy.

"Well, this has been fun. We really must do it again sometime." The Major said, he and his Inquisition began to leave for the Vertbirds. John simply turned around and looked at him, unable to speak as Ulysses forced them aboard the Vertibirds and back across the border. They all knew the situation now: The Cease-Fire was over, they were at war.

* * *

The next day, security footage salvaged from the Landing Tower was sent to the Lucky 38. There as no audio so they had to make due with video alone. John sat in his chair, grimace rushing through his thoughts as he watched the events leading up to the explosion. He had fast forwarded the footage to an hour before the blast, watching the radioman doing his job, like any other day, when from just beyond the veil of glass, separating him from the outside world, a bullet raced through the room, killing the man instantly. Shards of glass and dust spread across the room, and the man collapsed to the ground. For a moment nothing else happened, then two people entered the room, dressed in suits of old Enclave Power Armor, from the Oil Rig. Rather then the Enclave logo, they had a different symbol placed on them, he couldn't tell what it read, but he could tell it was two letters. He watched them put the body in place, place down the package and tape recorder, then flee.

John paused the footage. "Yes-Man." John called out, urgency and anxiety in his voice.

His cheery face appeared on the monitor. "Yes sir." He stated, happily.

"Can you clear this footage up?" John asked.

Yes-Man tried but to no avail. John sighed, agitated. He started playing the footage again, and continued watching. Another fifteen minutes passed before he finally saw Leon, bandaged and beaten, burned and broken. John's eyes widened, he stood up from his chair, knocking it the ground, John watched as Leon collapsed, not caring whether or not Leon was suffering, only caring that he wasn't dead.

"Damn it!" John yelled. "Yes-Man! Contact Sarah! Get the Dead Man's Hand after him!"

Yes-Man began to start transmitting, but the power suddenly went out across the Lucky 38. John looked around, raising his pistol.

"I see I'm not the only one having an interesting week." A sinister voice stated, hiding just out of view, avoiding sunlight creeping in through the windows.

John could never forget that voice. "Orion." John called out, disdain and hatred in his voice.

The machine stepped out of the shadows standing only a few feet away. "The one and only." He stated, standing as though he was expecting applause. John raised his pistol in defense. "Calm down, I'm not here to hurt anybody."

"I'll believe that when you're gone." John said, holding the pistol trigger with a very solid grip.

"Very heroic." Orion said sarcastically. "I'm actually here to help you."

John didn't back down, completely untrusting of the monstrous machine. "Why would you ever help me?" John asked.

"Because we share a common foe. I was attacked by the same group that helped the Lone Wanderer destroy Nellis." Orion stated, a sense of honesty in his voice. "They call themselves Anarchy One."

John slowly began to lower the pistol. He realized Orion was being truthful, which in and of itself was a once in a lifetime event. "If they are real, what do you know about them?" John asked.

"They are real and very little." Orion stated, beginning to pace back and forward. "They were completely unknown until recently, and whoever they are, they attacked me in my home, had me at gunpoint, but the attacker left, just like that."

"Who was it?" John asked. Orion looked at him, confusion in his eyes. "You wouldn't come to me if you didn't have some information on the attacker. I know your game, let your enemies destroy each other, then attack in force."

Orion smiled. "Perceptive as ever. The attacker was average height, wearing energized chainmail over a Chinese Stealth Suit. Sadistic type, slightly unstable, calls themselves the Watcher."

John began to ponder what this Watcher would have against Vegas. If they were after Orion, they shared a common enemy. "What are you suggesting?" John asked.

"An alliance. Temporary of course. Find and destroy Anarchy One, then back to focusing on each other. If my intelligence has been compromised, what do you think has happened to yours?" Orion asked.

John actually began to consider the idea of an alliance. He could gain inside information on his darkest enemy, bring them down without a shot to be fired. A necessary evil. He thought, but then he remembered the people he watched die at the hands of Orion, the friends and families torn apart and destroyed. The innocent blood spilled over the Mojave during the Mojave Attacks, the Dying Screams of the Capital Wasteland, the Decayed on the streets of New York, and most of all, being forced to abandon Amata, making Leon into what he was now. It all traced back to Orion, he would never forgive himself for siding with him.

"No." John declared, standing valiantly. "I haven't forgotten what you've done. Your atrocities. The day I side with you is the day I give up all hope in humanity."

Orion shook his head. "You must be insane to think human civilization is still worth defending. Especially after your recent actions."

"Insane? Do you even know the definition of insanity?" John asked. Orion was unwavering in his opinion "I am stable enough to know not to trust you unless it's a cold day in hell."

Orion saw what he meant. John was performing a necessary evil, and Orion had to applaud him for that. "Then so be it. I'll leave you and your Confederacy to your lives. Even if they will be very short lives." With that last taunt Orion vanished without a trace.

With power returning to the Lucky 38, Yes-Man managed to send the signal. John walked to the elevator, he opened the doors, stepped in, and turned around, his expression grim and broken. One thought, a single idea, rolled through his head.

Should have killed him when I had the chance.


	19. Dying Cry

Got this one done quicker then I thought, so here you go!

* * *

CyberJordan: Trust me, when things come together, the Major will be crying like a baby. I won't say much about the Watcher, but she is a force to be reckoned with.

Oddliver: He's losing control of the situation against Supremacy One, but you're right, he does have some cards up his sleeve.

ejthepinoy: The Major is unpredictable, and John wasn't willing to take risks. (Good to see your still around by the way.)

Exile037: The Watcher watches all. (P.S Your favorite character returns this chapter.)

sgtranglin: Thank you.

* * *

Chapter 19

Dying Cry

Camp McCarran

John walked of the Monorail from New Vegas, entering to the sight of two guards at the door. They saluted him on the way out, watching him pass through the door, then returned to their normal positions. John walked through the military base. Everyone was on alert, watching the Courier with a mixture of admiration, respect, and fear. His actions recently had put them all at risk. One of the soldiers on his way to his post bumped into the Courier. He fell back terrified at what might happen to him for that. John simply looked at the private, then continued walking forward, he moved down the escalator to find several Brotherhood Paladins and Sarah Lyons awaiting him.

John walked down the steps, looking around the room. Camp McCarran had changed drastically since the NCR withdrawal, rather than dull, dusty walls and wreckage littering the ground, they had begun repairing the building, getting computers up and running, cleaning up the walls, fixing breaches in the perimeter, and most importantly: Repairing and refitting old Military Planes. They were getting the place back up and running, military traders began setting up shop in the camp. The Sand Marines ran patrols hourly, running security checks on the merchants and such. John was at least glad they were making progress in rebuilding the cities of the Confederacy.

"Never thought I'd see your face again." Someone said from behind. John turned around to see his old friend Craig Boone, who had watched him arrive.

"Hello, old friend." John said, holding out his hand. "You seem to be doing alright."

Boone shook his hand. "Thanks to you." Boone and John dropped their hands, and started walking towards the door.

"Sarah tell you why I needed your team?" John asked, unsure of how much he knew.

"No. But you don't call us in if it's not important. Your personal "Hunter-Killers" if I remember correctly." Boone said, unusually pleasant. It wasn't hard to tell why, ever since his return to Bitter Springs, he had turned heartless, killing for money and pleasure, but when it came to the Courier, when it came to New Vegas, that was where his loyalties lay.

They exited McCarran Terminal, and walked out to find Boone's team. Immediately, anyone could recognize some of the more familiar faces in the Wasteland: First Recon. The former NCR Unit had defected during the collapse of the NCR. Lt. Gorobets, Sgt. Little Root, Corporal Sterling, Corporal Betsy, and Ten of Spades, all still armed for war. They weren't the only ones, others among them included Sgt. Contreras, former Arms Dealer and Quartermaster of Camp McCarran, now the mechanic for the teams, Meyers, the Convicted Ex-Sheriff, now their personal enforcer. The only other two significant members were the cyberdogs, Rex and Roxie, once members of the Courier's Team, now trackers of the group. All together they formed the Dead Man's Hand, the Courier's elite Assassins. To the public they were an average group of Mercenaries, but in truth they were the finest forces in New Vegas. Having been formed after the Mojave Attacks, they were formed to prevent another surprise attack by Supremacy One, first seeing action against the Major, killing eighteen soldiers during a Revolutionist Federation raid on New Reno. They were covert, unknown to the majority of the people in the Confederacy, even at New Reno their presence was a secret.

On the far tent was Sarah, who was obviously ready for war. She was wearing her old Lyons Pride Power Armor and wielding a Laser Rifle.

She walked up to John. "Everyone's here. Do you want to tell them or should I?" Sarah asked.

John thought about it. "I'll tell them." He said, slightly disheartened that he had to bring them in the first place. He walked forward with the other two in tow. The Dead Man's Hand all looked at him with respect. They all stood up and saluted him, standing at attention within seconds after seeing him. "At ease." John declared. They all relaxed for a moment. "As you've probably already been told, you're here for to find someone. Someone dangerous and deadly. But I'll be honest with you: This isn't just any other hunt, you're hunting Leon Stinger, the Lone Wanderer." The team all seemed to briefly cringe at the name. They had all heard of his atrocities, but whether their disgust was from that or that he was still alive in the first place was unclear. "You've all heard the stories, so I'm going to just tell one: He was responsible for the Nellis attack last night. For obvious reasons: I want him dead." John declared. Hatred, anger, and pain filled his voice, unnerving the team for a moment. "I don't care what lengths you have to go to, you find him, you bring me his body. Understand?!"

"SIR YES SIR!" They yelled.

"Good." John stated, glad to see they hadn't lost their need to kill. "We don't have many leads, but the last time we saw Leon, he was being washed down stream. I'd start there or Nellis." The team saluted and prepared to leave, but then John remembered something. "One more thing... He may not be alone. We don't have anything solid, but there was a group who assisted him, a group called Anarchy One. Exercise extreme caution if you encounter them." The team acknowledged that fact and left, splitting up and heading in two separate directions.

Sarah approached him. "Anarchy One?" She asked. "What the hell is Anarchy One?"

John realized that only he knew about them, or the fact that Orion could invade the Lucky 38.

"An extremist group, nothing more." John lied, confident of his charisma. They were one of the groups supplying Leon's weapons.

Sarah seemed to believe him. John had always been able to talk himself out of a situation, sometimes it could take more effort, but he could do it.

"Then what do you want done about them?" Sarah asked, having become military advisor while Ulysses was attempting to deal with his deteriorating condition.

"Nothing. If Leon goes, they will break apart." John declared, not actually knowing what to do. Anarchy One was an enigma, an unknown enemy. If they could infiltrate Supremacy One and nearly kill Orion, it would be very hard to make a call on who's side they were on.

"But what if-" Sarah was cut off as there was a disruption at the gate. John looked over to the main gate to see Sand Marines attempting to keep someone out. Shots were fired, a man fell to the ground and someone ran in, dressed in a black trenchcoat and holding a Marksman Combine. He dove forward, and John recognized him: Xander Nicholas. The Sand Marines continued to open fire on him, he got a few shots off at them, kneecaping one of them, and cracking the armor of another.

"Hold your fire! He's no threat!" John yelled. Xander looked back at him, glad that he broke them up before things got worse.

"Thanks for that." Xander said, putting away his gun. "Wouldn't want to have killed your men."

"Don't mention it." John said. "Why are you here?"

"What I can't drop in on an old friend?" Xander asked. He quickly saw John was in no mood. "Cut the shit and get to the point, right?" Xander asked. John nodded. "All right then. Truth be told, I'm actually here looking for you. The Legion seems to be mobilizing forces near the border."

John crossed his arms. "So?" John asked, irritated.

"So... are you going to do something about it?" Xander asked, surprised.

"No." John declared, agitated.

"What? Why?" Xander asked again, his face turning from excitement to horror..

"Just because Lanius has forces on the border doesn't mean he's invading, or even provoking me. This has happened in the past, we won't go to war over it." John declared.

"You used to jump at the chance to fight the Legion!" Xander yelled, anger filling his voice, disgust filling his expression.

"That was years ago. Things change, Xander." John declared. His face was solemn, calm, and slightly disappointed. "I have more important issues to deal with then the Legion." John began to walk away.

Xander looked at him with anger and fury. "You've lost your edge. Your nothing but a pathetic politician. You'd sooner sacrifice the entire Confederacy then save it." Xander barely had time to speak again before John grabbed him by the throat. He felt the ground hit him like a hammer as John threw him to the ground. Xander reached for the All-American, but it was kicked away. John began thrashing him, barely giving him time to breathe. John picked him up by the jacket, Xander gasping for air.

"Don't ever question my choices with the Confederacy. I put my life on the line for this nation, don't forget that." He helped Xander up.

Xander slowly regained his breath. "Don't think I have, but when your family and friends are killed by someone, you tend to not let that go. Sorry." Xander declared, realizing he was harsh but justified with his actions.

"That's fine. You can show yourself to the door, I have business to attend to." John walked away, kicking up sand and stone as he went, watching the skies. He had his hand on the handle to enter McCarran Terminal when a Sand Marine ran through the courtyard.

"Sir! An army of Legionaries just crossed the Nevada Border!" They yelled. John turned and looked at the soldier, a chill running up his spine. Xander had a hard time keeping in both his smugness and his dread. Sarah looked at John, her expression asking what they should do.

"Ready a Vertibird. I need to see this myself."

* * *

They lifted off about half an hour later, and were flying at top speeds to the border. The sands below slowly enveloped all they could see, John, Sarah, and Xander were all sitting armed to fight in the Vertibird. None of them spoke, the tension did it for them. The Legion had no provocation to attack, their relations had improved steadily since the Mojave Attacks. Xander looked out the window, more Vertibirds were forming up on them, at least six, and they were all flying towards the unknown. Another fifteen minutes of tension passed before they were in range.

We're here, setting down. The craft generally began to descend and set down on the sands. John and company rushed out onto the sands, seeing the other Vertibirds deploying Sand Marines, armed with Battle Rifles, Assault Carbines, Sniper Rifles, Missile Launchers, Flamers, 12.7mm Pistols, and Rippers, as well as a mix of Legion and NCR melee strategies, such as Ranger Takedown and Legion Assault. They looked out towards approaching silhouettes in the distance, the army they were warned about. John walked in front of the bluffs and sands, the Vertibirds lifting off to bombard the enemy when they came into range. John pulled out a Telescope, looking towards the approaching force. In front of them stood Legate Andromeda, carrying something on her back.

"Fire on my mark!" Yelled Sarah, not wanting to deal with two wars. John continued to look at the group and began noticing a massive amount of slaves and children scattered among the group. The army had about six dozen people, and only twenty seemed to actually be soldiers.

"Ready..." Sarah continued, while John realized that Andromeda was limping, holding the barrel of a Hunting Rifle to keep moving.

"Aim..." Sarah still continued. John began realizing that so many of these people were severely injured, the soldiers included. He took one last glance and finally saw what Andromeda was carrying: A White Flag.

"Fire!" Sarah yelled.

"NO!" John yelled but was not heard. Bullets rained down on the approaching force, sixteen people dropped dead, and a baker's dozen more were wounded. "STOP FIRING!" John continued to yell, finally getting some of the soldiers attention, but despite this, most of them continued to open fire. "God Damn it!" John yelled as almost twenty more people dropped dead.

He grabbed Sarah by the neck. "Call them off! Those aren't soldiers!"

Sarah's expression turned to horror. She scrambled to her radio. "Cease-fire! Cease-fire!" She ordered. It took time but one by one the soldiers lowered their weapons, looking out at the carnage they inflicted. John ran out towards the ruins, Sarah and Xander in pursuit. They rushed towards the bodies and began checking for survivors. It didn't take long for John to find Andromeda. She was lying on the ground, having taken several hits to the chest. They were severe wounds, but she would survive.

Andromeda looked up at him. "Is this your Vegas hospitality? We came looking for asylum, and you decimate us?"

"We didn't know. You didn't exactly give us warning." John declared. He took out a stimpak, and injected it into Andromeda. He bandaged her wounds, and helped her to her feet.

"Fair enough." She looked at the bodies of men, women, and children, scattered at her feet. Blood covered the sands, patches of leather and cloth spread across the winds, bomb collars randomly exploded as their bearers died. "What a waste." Andromeda declared.

"That's it?" John asked.

She cracked her neck and looked back at the Courier.

"I'd say more if this wasn't the third massacre I've seen this week. Which brings me to why I am even here." Andromeda declared, grimly. Sarah and Xander ran up as medics began to treat the wounded.

"I need your help Courier. The Legion needs your help."

* * *

Flagstaff City Limits

On an old dusty road, stained by the blood of a thousand dead men, a desperate act was under way. On the road stood 2,000 Legion soldiers, all Centurions, the most elite forces in the Legion. The sharpest of the Bull's Horns. Trained to be able to destroy every single opponent that they ever encountered. They could beat the Enclave, the Brotherhood, the NCR, the Revolutionist Federation, and even some of the Confederacy.

Yet, on that road, they all knew this was where they would die.

They had been fighting a losing war for some time, but in the last few weeks, things had intensified beyond reason. No one outside the borders knew it, but these men were it. They were all that remained of Caesar's Legion, save for Lanius and the people in Flagstaff. Nearly 100,000 strong when the situation disintegrated, now most of the Legion lay dead, unburied in the sands.

In the distance, a rolling cloud of dust approached, stopping the hearts of people as they approached. Enormous machines that had the lower body of a tank, a chair and bulletproof glass making up the cockpit of the metal behemoth, and a weapon with a strange design. It looked like a massive barrel with a tesla coil in the center, powering an industrial light, accelerating through a massive light prism. The vehicles were being piloted by soldiers dressed in a cross between Recon Armor and Tesla Armor. They stopped about twenty feet away, and while a few soldiers were escorting them, the main device on the tank was the trump card against the Legion. It began projecting a very bright light, and in front of the Legion soldiers eyes, twenty men, made completely of shining blue light. All dressed in the silhouette of Sierra Madre Security Armor.

"For Caesar!" The Centurion's yelled. They charged against the holograms. The holograms turned red, and the dying cries of the Legion echoed across the Wasteland.


	20. The Bull Without Horns

Hey, I'm getting quicker with these updates. Take this with a grain of salt, however, sometimes it takes longer to write a chapter.

* * *

CyberJordan: Had they knocked on his front door he would have been slightly more happy with them. As far as the Holograms, They've got a hell of a problem either way.

Slovous: All I can say is you'll have to wait and see.

The Night Hunter: Thank you very much.

Guest: (I actually don't know who this review belongs too, but it mentions missing the last chapter, so it assume it's a regular reviewer. I'm guessing this was Dragonclaw1000 who just forgot to login. If not, then whoever did review, please tell me.) Thank you. He very well may have to make that choice soon enough, as you're about to see, things aren't getting much better.

Exile037: You're going to be surprised who it turns out to be. Hope you're ready for another big twist.

Sonicbullet: It takes time to write these chapters, especially when they're now getting as long as they are, so be patient. Also in short response to your "suggestions" I've got one thing to say: My story, my rules. There will be big battles, Vehicle combat, and all sorts of other things, but you have to wait for it and be patient. If you can't be patient, then don't read my story.

All right, with that out of the way, Read and Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 20

The Bull Without Horns

Confederacy Frontier

Leon had made the old town home, he began repairing power systems, and set up a makeshift workshop and began analyzing the salvaged Faction technology, in hopes of stopping the madness the Courier had started. Yet at this point, he had very little hope. He felt he had been abandoned and broken. His friends were gone, his allies dead, and his rebellion had failed. He couldn't avenge Amata, honestly he wasn't sure if that was what he was fighting for in the end. He had believed that he was avenging Amata, but looking back it had been exactly what the Courier had called it: A Twisted Vendetta.

Leon was using an industrial strength torch puting together a synthetic arm for himself, designed to replace his Amputation Hook, as well as working on a new eye. He was fusing the arm of a suit of Faction Battle Armor to his nervous system. He had removed most of the extra armor, placing it aside, and brought the arm down to human size. It was a painful process, but to Leon, he felt that stinging feeling so often, he didn't care anymore. The pain in him had died off a long time ago. In a few minutes it was attached, he felt that he had control of the arm. He moved his fingers around, making sure he had complete control over it. He was ready to get working on the eye, when the radio, which before had played Dean Martin ended, with Mr. New Vegas coming on with recent news.

It seems as though the spear is pointed the other way around as forces from Caesar's Legion, led by the infamous Legate Andromeda, have arrived on Vegas soil. At first thought to be an invasion, it now seems to be a plea for help from the Legion. Details are confidential, but the Courier has commented that the situation seems dire, and that once he has enough information, he will be ready to speak further. Andromeda is scheduled to speak her piece early tomorrow, while herself and her forces are receiving medical aid.

Leon's mouth almost dropped. He knew the Courier had wanted to improve relations with the Legion, but they hadn't made incredible progress with that. Yet now they were knocking on his front door. He wasn't sure if he should go out in his condition, but he was curious and concerned. He picked up some supplies and started off, hoping to reach the Mojave before the next day, the sun high in the sky as noon approached.

* * *

New Vegas - The Next Day

Soldiers were on guard in New Vegas as Andromeda and her guards entered through Freeside's gates. People gathered in the streets, held back by Sand Marines, screaming at them, calling them savages and murderers. Several times the Sand Marines were forced to open fire on the crowds. The Three Families remained uninvolved. While they all had bad blood towards the Legion, they didn't want to anger the Courier.

John and an escort of Securitrons stood in front of the Lucky 38, awaiting as Andromeda approached.

"Welcome to the Lucky 38. Legate." John said, addressing Andromeda officially. Andromeda simply brushed past, entering the Lucky 38. John looked to the crowds. People from all over the Mojave had come to protest, to scream. John couldn't afford this now, he wasn't willing to risk a second rebellion. He gave a signal to the Securitrons, who opened up their missile batteries and opened fire members of the crowds, killing a dozen people. The rest finally began to disperse, realizing how dangerous the Courier had become. However, in the crowd, Leon stood just out of sight, he was wearing a Face Wrap, Cowboy Hat, and Sunglasses, wearing his old Regulator outfit, with gloves. The Courier gave him a glance for a moment, sensing something was wrong, but then turned around and walked into the Lucky 38. Leon then walked towards the gateway towards the Tops. Entering the gateway, he looked around, making sure no one took notice of him, then dashed as quickly as he could across the street making his way towards Vault 21 and the old embassy. He looked around again, then dashed forward into Vault 21.

He entered the main room and walked up to the counter. Sarah Weintrub turned around and looked at him.

"Welcome to Vault 21! How can I help you?" She asked, in her usual gleeful mood. Would you like a room?

Leon looked at her. "No. But I could use some help." He said.

"Sure! What do you need help with?" She continued, happily.

"Do you know where I could find Jake Raphael?" Leon asked.

"Of course. Down the hall, you can usually find him in the diner."

"Thank you." Leon said. He walked down the stairwell, making his way to the diner. When he finally reached it, it was crowded with people, easy for him to blend in. He looked around for a moment, searching for his man. He finally spotted him sitting at a table in the corner with a steak. He walked forward and sat down in front of him.

The man known as Jake was Hispanic, only about five and a half feet tall, about 130 pounds, slim build, brown hair, shaved into a reverse mohawk, and wearing a Vault Maintenance Jumpsuit, navy blue and relatively clean, the number 66 in faded yellow on the back. He wore an old hat, brown and torn, but mostly intact. He wielded a grenade launcher, loaded with incendiary grenades. He looked up as Leon sat down, his eyes blank and lifelessly black.

"Who is it?" He asked, unsure of who he was seeing, having a gruff tone and voice.

"Who else?" Leon stated, almost comically.

Jake began to quietly laugh. "Leon Stinger. I never thought I would see you again." Jake said, passing a beer to him. Leon took off his face mask, and took a swig. It was flat and warm, but he didn't care. Jake looked up at him taking a quick glance of Leon's bandages. "Heard you were in bad shape, but I didn't think it was this bad." Jake said, noticing Leon's shaky grip with his mechanical hand. He took a drink himself.

Leon put his drink down. "Yeah, Hoover Dam was a disaster. I failed." Leon declared. Only Jake knew that Leon was the Executioner before Hoover Dam. He and Leon went way back, all the way back to the Capital Wasteland. Jake was a demolitions expert, leader of a three man group, and an élite mercenary. He and his team had previously been operatives for Littlehorn Associates, but were ultimately betrayed and sought out Leon for help. Ultimately he chose to aid them in taking down Littlehorn Associates. They raided the Scrapyard fighting through a battalion of Talon Company, eventually passing them after Jake launched a barrage of Mini-Nuke Grenades, specialized weapons created by his team. When the team reached Littlehorn Associates, they shot the secretaries as they approached. Leon brutally beat Daniel Littlehorn, interrogating him for information about Star Paladin Cross, before leaving him for Jake. Jake lit the shed on fire with a Molotov Cocktail, trapping Littlehorn inside as it burned and that night, he and Leon shared their victory with a bottle of Vodka and taking shots at Molerats. Jake had cheated his way to victory, using a Missile Launcher to blow up the nest, where Leon had been using a Sniper Rifle to pick them off individually, and they had been friends ever since.

"Well, you win some, and you lose your entire army, get mutilated, and forced to flee from a militaristic king of a man who is now rampaging across the Wasteland." Jake said, being rather straight forward, as he took another drink.

"Ha." Leon replied sarcastically, his expression blank and unamused. "Listen, do you still have access to the comm bugs Phillip installed in the Lucky 38?" Leon asked, his hopes low, but still there.

Jake seemed to space out for a minute. He was infamous for having an unquenchable thirst for alcohol, and it often left him completely incapacitated. However, he snapped out of it a few seconds later. "Yeah. I've lost a few, but some of them should still be working. Why?" Jake asked, not in his best mindset to be asked any sort of question that required any thought whatsoever. Had Leon asked him to throw a stick of dynamite through the diner, he would be done before Leon was finished with the word dynamite.

"I need to listen in on the Courier. It's important." Leon declared, looking at Jake with an unspoken fear.

Jake took another drink. "Sure. I don't care. Just make me a deal." Jake stated, surprisingly aloof. Whether that was because he actually didn't care or that he was just completely hammered, Leon couldn't really tell, nor did he care.

"Anything." Leon said, desperation in his voice.

Jake smiled. "The next time you're in a jam... Give me a call... Me and my team will have your back." Jake said, almost brotherly.

Leon was surprised. He came expecting resistance from Jake, not a warm welcome. "Deal. Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Jake passed him a holotape with the frequency for the bugs on it, and Leon ran off, hoping he hadn't missed much of the meeting.

* * *

Lucky 38

He was lucky. When he began listening in, they had just started, due to a slight complication involving a certain messenger.

"I will not speak until the traitor is out of my sight." Andromeda declared. John, Xander, and, Ulysses, the traitor she was referring too, sat at a round table.

"Ulysses is my friend and key advisor. He's not going anywhere." John declared, irritated that this was even an issue.

"He is a dishonored one. Caesar may hold him in esteem, but I consider him a dead man." Andromeda declared, frustrated with the continued existence of the renegade.

"You are in no position to bargain anything. You came to us for help, I can easily turn you down." John threatened.

Andromeda was prepared to speak, but she realized that John was right. She grunted angrily, then waited.

"You came here asking for help." John declared. "Why?"

"An army. An army of the damned." Andromeda declared.

"Could you be any less vague?" Xander asked, sarcastically.

Andromeda looked at him. "You're a Sparrow, aren't you?" Andromeda declared.

Xander looked at her with a sense of pride and hatred. "The last of them." Xander stated, a fire in his eyes.

"Then you know the fate of your tribe." Andromeda declared, a sinister smile on her face. "You would be wise to be quiet and not share their fate."

Xander looked as though he was going to start shooting, but John broke up the argument. "Let's focus on the matter at hand." John declared. "This fight can wait."

Xander acknowledged him and began to calm down. John seemed to be stopping a lot of these fights recently.

Andromeda looked at John. "I'm surprised how well you keep these beasts contained. "That may be useful against Hannibal." Andromeda stated, finally starting to make progress with this conversation.

John's eyes met hers. "I've heard that name before." John said, remembering Lanius mentioning him. "Who is he?"

Andromeda seemed to become distressed. "He is... a reformer. To say the least." Andromeda started.

"He was once a Centurion Commander named Augustus. A bold thinker, a brilliant strategist, and well-respected, he became disillusioned with the Legion after the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. He called for radical action against you, demanded to take our remnant forces back across the Colorado and burn New Vegas. Caesar... Lanius, denied his request, he had been inspired by you, inspired to change the Legion, hopefully for the better. Augustus endured the reformations, however, he secretly began amassing followers, others like him who would settle for nothing short of complete and total victory."

John seemed to be listening closely, Ulysses was skeptical, and Xander was completely unbelieving.

"While you were gone on the Eastern Coast, Augustus attempted a coup d'état, five-hundred Centurions stormed Flagstaff's palace, but ultimately, Lanius ashamed him, brutally maiming him. However, despite being maimed and the decimation of his forces, he and his followers fled north, north of Colorado. For a time we heard nothing, then a few months later, he returned, attacking Colorado. His forces were savage, brutally killing everyone in their way. When we finally mounted a counter-attack, he had claimed most of Colorado for his own. He declared that he was no longer Augustus, that he was Hannibal of New Carthage, and that his destiny was to crush the Legion. We retreated from Colorado, abandoning Denver and the region to him. We recalled all our forces from our territories south and east of Arizona, 100,000 men, and while at first things seemed to be going well, but then..." Andromeda seemed to trail off, becoming emotional, tears running from her eyes.

John looked at her. "Then what?" John asked, unsure of how things could have gotten so bad so quickly.

"Yes. Please tell us. I'm so amazed." Xander arrogantly snarled.

"Xander..." John tried to start.

"I'm surprised you haven't had a comment on this." Xander said to John. "You seem to have an opinion on everything, why don't you tell us what you think of this? A military leader we've never seen, a nation we've never heard of, and-"

"Xander!" John yelled. Xander fell silent, completely mute. Sit. Down.

Xander reluctantly sat down, unable to even respond to John. "Continue Andromeda." John declared.

Andromeda nodded. "There was a town in Arizona, they call it Ascendancy. Lanius received word of a Hannibal being there, and sent a mass amount of forces to deal with him. We sent the bulk of our army to engage him there, but when they reached the town, they found a single garrison of unknown vehicles, sitting right in their path. The vehicles shined a bright light from their weapons and released these... Ghosts. Pale blue, shining and flickering." John's expression generally began to turn pale and horrified. "They vaporized the entire army, tens of thousands of men. These Ghosts started appearing everywhere, and none of us could hurt them. Hannibal had gained a new ally, and the war was lost at that battle." Andromeda paused for a moment. "I came here to ask for your help. We may have lost the war, but we can still save the memory of the Legion. Legate Lanius and a good deal of people, slaves and Legionaries alike, are still in Flagstaff. I need your help in rescuing them."

"You said Hannibal has an ally. Have you ever seen them?" John asked.

"What difference does that make?" Andromeda asked. Suddenly John jumped up and grabbed her from small table. He held her by the duster, the ferocity and speed in his actions was unbelievable.

"It makes all the difference!" John yelled, his voice alive with rage and fury, his face hardened, and his grip tightened.

Andromeda quaked in fear as she looked into John's unforgiving emerald eyes. "I've never seen them. No one has! We're not entirely sure Hannibal didn't just find the technology."

John let go of her and let her catch her breath. "He didn't." John declared, beginning to realize his mistake.

"Will you help us or not?" Andromeda asked, desperate to preserve what remained of the Legion.

John stood silent for a moment, taking in what he had just heard. Then he spoke again, with a vengeful tone in his voice.

"Ulysses. Contact New Hopeville, get me Chimera's, Hummers, Vertibirds, anything we can spare. We're going on a rescue mission."


	21. Rescue at Flagstaff

Hey guys, I'm back with another long chapter. After giving it some thought and asking some people, I'm going to try to put out longer chapters from now on, but as a result they will be out less frequently. If this new format does not work out, I'll switch back. For now, Read and Enjoy!

* * *

Not many reviews this time. Oh well.

CyberJordan: I'm glad you didn't see that coming, almost figured I'd lost my edge in terms of twists. The Vertibird Bombing Idea would really depend on whether they could get close.

Exile037: Sorry it took me awhlile, hope the wait was worth it.

Dragonclaw1000: Thank you, hope I can continie to impress.

Sonicbullet: Sorry, been a little edgy recently, didn't mean to offend. I may put that Halo/Fallout idea into writing one day. In response to the second review, he made them out of old mining vehicles, same as China, but with a few new upgrades.

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Chapter 21

Rescue at Flagstaff

The forces John requested began to rally at the Nevada-Arizona Border. They began to punch across the border, five hummers, three Chimera's and Ten Vertibirds. They raced forward, pushing all the vehicles to the limit, and racing to Flagstaff. As they pushed through treacherous terrain on the route there, they encountered the casualties of the war. Wreckage lay strung about desert sands, settlements were burned to ash, some of them still fresh with glowing embers and crisp ash. Bodies littered the ground, gruesomely dismembered, some mutilated by desert animals desperately search for food, and some weren't even bodies anymore, nothing but small piles of ash. This didn't dishearten any of the soldiers, for the most part they didn't really care. The Old World Guard had seen more horrors in New York than most people could bear, yet they endured, and were ready for any mission.

Spearheading the operation, the Raven was flying in front of the fleet, faster then any of the Vertibirds. John, Ulysses, Sarah, Xander, and Andromeda were all on board. Sarah was checking the armory, Xander was silently sitting in his own chair, pondering what decision had brought him here, John was looking at maps of the city with Andromeda, and Ulysses was piloting the Vehicle.

John stood across the command table, displaying holograms of the city. Andromeda pointed out her hand to the large building constructed in the center of the city.

"Here, this is where Lanius will be located, he has had the rest of the Legion gathering what little we have left." Andromeda explained, continuing to point at the building marked Legion Palace.

John looked at the maps with concern. "Is there anywhere we can set down close to the palace?" John asked.

"Let me see..." Andromeda started, studying the maps. She looked from every angle, searching for something they could use for a landing platform. "Here." She declared, pointing to an old store not far off from the palace. "It has a roof access and is easily defendable, with only one entrance." Andromeda said, confident they could defeat this enemy.

John didn't share her point of view, he shook his head. "It won't make a difference." John's reply sounded almost completely grim, save for his always present anger.

"How do you know?" Andromeda asked.

John hesitated to respond. "I just do. Leave it at that."

Andromeda glared suspicously at him. She eventually nodded, and continued planning the mission, unaware of John's actual intent in going to Flagstaff.

* * *

Elsewhere in the world, Orion and his A.I brethren prepared to make their move for the last two members of the Dark Crucible. Flying well out of range of New Vegas radar, they were dangerously close to acheiving their sinister goals. They flew high above the clouds, unseen by the wastelanders below. Not that they could see much, they were flying through a fairly arctic like region. Radioactive snow, glowing a sickly lime green, fell for miles, blanketing the surface and making the sky fade into the unknown.

Inside their small aircraft, the Liberator, as it was known, Orion, Lazarus, and Strife all waited to land. Archangel flew outside the craft, acting as eyes and ears, while the Liberator was on autopilot, heading towards the location of the fourth A.I, Vandal, and his keepers: The brutal Supremacy Five. These people were incredibly dangerous, they were the muscle of Supremacy, the ones who held absolutely no sympathy, and had no tolerance for the concept of diplomacy. They were considered enforcers as well as walking tanks, but worst of all, the project they were developing was all too familiar: The Lantern Bombs, the weapons stolen by the Faction and used to destroy the Capital Wasteland. Obviously this was why Orion had left them for last. They were too powerful, they could even proof to be too much for him, even with a surprise attack. Now he had the Crucible, and Supremacy Five didn't stand a chance.

"Landing in twenty seconds." The Auto-Pilot bellowed. Orion and the Crucible stood up as the landing hatch began to open. They slowly walked off the platform, a green tint in the air. They looked around at their surrounding buildings in the city, in the distance, the target loomed, a unforgiving as it was before the war: the Kremlin and Red Square. They had landed in Moscow, Russia.

Orion had the Crucible draw weapons. "Move out. Bring me Vandal."

* * *

Arizona

They were very close to the city now, and that was very clear. The Arizona desert had been scorched by Hannibal, the ground burned and salted in a twist of irony. The last of the Legion was all but destroyed, their bodies scattered across the highway. Hummers began to try and navigate the devastation, and it was becoming incresingly hard to manevuer through the debris. Yet they marched on, the roar of the Hummers engines echoing across the wasteland. Flagstaff was coming into sight now, and from the Raven, it became increasingly apparent to everyone, even the suspicous Xander, that the tales they had heard were not only accurate, they were an understatement. Huge fires burned in the city, the crucified bodies of a hundred dead men fell from the walls of the mighty fortress of a city, and the walls began to crumble as the invasion was underway.

On board the Raven, John picked up the radio.

"All forces, find Legate Lanius, take no chances with the Ghosts, I repeat do not engage the Ghosts. Find Legate Lanius and get him out." He got a confirmation from all forces as they entered the city limits. As tension rose sharply, they were inside the city. Below, handfuls of Human Soldiers, dressed in the same Tesla Recon Armor the Last of the Legion had seen on the city limits, marched alongside swarms of the so called ghosts, but the moment John saw them, he knew it for certain: They were the same holograms from the Sierra Madre.

The Raven set down on the roof of the building, as the Vertibirds began to drop pulse-bombs down on the open streets, the rush of Gatling Lasers raining through the streets attempting to turn back the tide of enemies, or at the very least cover the escape. Sand Marines and Hummers set up blockades, firing at Hannibals incoming soldiers.

John walked out with a Fully-Modified Anti-Material Rifle, some explosive rounds, and an experimental Pulse Rifle, based of the Pulse Gun he had found in Vault 34. It had a thick barrel, with a Triangular shaped firing point, where the energy would leave the weapon. It ran off Microfusion cells, with the back of the weapon holding a small port where you would fit a Microfusion cell in, and the butt of the gun resembling the LAER's. On top of the barrel, a high tech trapazoid shaped scope, with a round top. Everyone else piled out of the Raven, watching as fires continued to ignite across the city, dying screams and gunfire making it hard to even think straight.

John looked around, looking around with urgency, and found the stairwell, he motioned Andromeda and Sarah towards it, but stopped Ulysses and Xander.

John held out the Anti-Material Rifle to Ulysses. "I need you and Xander to stay here." He stated, with a sense of dependence in his voice.

Xander's eyes lit up with those words. "What?" Xander quietly snapped. "Why!?"

"I need someone to watch the Raven." John whispered, not wanting to attract attention.

"Can't Ulysses do that alone?" Xander asked, irritated. He hadn't wanted to come out on this mission, it disgusted him that they would even consider helping the Legion.

"But I also need someone to watch him." John declared, looking at Ulysses. Since Hoover Dam, his health had been deteriortating at an alarming rate. His flesh was pale, his eye whites turning a sickly yellow, and his voice becoming increasingly croaky. Despite all the Courier's resources, including his own Monocytes, there was nothing he could do to cure Ulysses. The best he could do was slow his condition, which, from what they could tell, was literally eating him from the inside. It was slowly shutting down all his body functions, one by one, and what was left was being eaten by the condition, which they codenamed Engulfer Syndrome.

"He's in charge of covering our escape if things go south, you need to watch his back." John said, lying through his teeth, and not moving an inch.

Xander looked at him with irritation, his expression filled with contempt for this tactic. John's expression almost mirrored his, only his contempt was for Xander's uncompromising attitude. "If you can't get on board with this plan, you have no place here." John declared.

Their was silence for a moment, dread and tension in the air. Xander was visbly intimidated, unable to respond to the Courier. John continued on. "You have two choices: You can stand with us and rescue Lanius, or you can leave now. But before you make that choice, understand this: If you try to leave, I will shoot you myself before anyone else even gets a chance."

Now Xander was truly backed into a corner, although to be honest it had hardly been his choice to start. John had forced him on the Raven, forced him on this mission, and now was forcing him to help the Legion, and he could tell from the fire in his eyes and his infamous rage that he wasn't bluffing.

Xander slowly nodded. "All right." He said, terror and stress in his voice, almost cowering. He wasn't the only one, the others all looked at John in disbelief, fearing what he might do if someone pushed him. He turned and looked around at the group. Out of all of them, only Ulysses looked at him the same way: With respect and admiration.

He walked over to the stairwell and opened the door, albeit with some extra force. He, Sarah, and Andromeda descended into the building, scanning for any intruders, before exiting towards the street.

* * *

With the sun attempting to breach through the veil of smoke and fire, as well as the limitless crumbling buildings and wreckage, the strike team would have had a hard time navigating there way into the Palace had it not been for Ulysses using the Anti-Material Rifle to point out openings and possible movement, as they were trying to avoid conflict, using the battle as a diversion while they moved to rescue Lanius.

The team maneuvered the street and managed to make it to the doorway to the palace. John looked at Sarah, and she nodded. The gently opened the door, and slipped inside.

The halls were darkened, the torches on the wall were put out, and the door slammed shut behind them. John pulled out his Pip-Boy and flipped on the light, revealing a gruesome sight. Mangled bodies littered the ground, some Legion, some Hannibal's. Some were dismembered, others were nothing but a piles of flesh and blood, an occasional bone sticking out. Crosses decorated the walls, with skeletons nailed to them, as well as old tires on the ground, burnt and charred, scattered in old piles around the halls. Sarah coughed as the smell of decaying bodies filled the room. The smell of rotting flesh was attracting insects and other vermin, and it was making Sarah wretch in disgust. She put on her helmet, activated the air filter on it, and took a deep breath.

John put a hand on her back as she breathed. "Too much for you?" He asked, looking around at the rotting bodies. He had gotten used to that smell in his time and he had seen far worse than this. Sarah had as well, but usually they didn't have to stick around and get a good long look at it, or smell it, for that matter.

"No... No I'm fine." Sarah said, regaining her balance and her stomach. Let's just get out of here while we can.

John nodded. He looked over at Andromeda, who was just standing there, still as a statue. "Where would Lanius be?" He asked.

Andromeda turned and looked at him, her face hard as steel, and her expression dead as the bodies in the room. "He would be in the Archives, most likely. He was trying to recover our records before I left."

Sarah was skeptical. "Wouldn't he have been done by now? He could have fallen back to a more defendable place then a library."

"The archives ARE the most defendable room in the palace. One entrance, ten inch thick steel door, plenty of positions for cover."

John looked at the two. "That's where we start then, Let's move. Our forces won't be able to hold Hannibal off for very long."

* * *

That was an understatement, the situation outside was escalating from bad to worse. Sand Marines were having little to no success against the Holograms, unable to even get a clear line of sight against them. Hannibal's human forces were basically just sitting back and watching as the Holograms tore through Confederacy Forces.

Entrenched along the battlelines on the road to the palace, the Nevada 4th Division was fighting against Hannibal's approaching Tanks. They were rolling closer, Holograms in front, blasting away at there encampment. They rolled a Chimera, supported by two Hummers armed with 50. CAL Turrets, into a blockade. On the nearby rooftops, unseen by Hannibal's army, Ulysses and Xander watched the hopeless battle ensue.

The Chimera opened fire with a barrage of Blue Lasers, and a hail of bullets rained from the Hummers. They raced through the street, moving at incredible speeds, and yet when they hit their targets, they went throught the holograms and bounced off the armor of the enemy tanks. The Holograms quickly countered with a fiery rapid fire burst of lasers. It tore through the Hummers, shredding them into blood stained metal, lined with fire. The Chimera prepared to retreat, but was not quick enough to act. The holograms tore through it just as quickly.

"Damn shame." Xander said, watching the explosion from the roof.

Ulysses looked up at him. "They knew the risks, with luck they didn't feel anything." Ulysses said.

Xander looked down at him. "Optimistic fellow, aren't you?"

Ulysses looked up at him. "I've endured more then you could ever know." Ulysses said. "Suffering is a part of life. We all have to face it, but it takes someone truly great to free us from it."

Xander raised an eyebrow. "The Courier?" Xander asked, curious.

Ulysses's expression turned to sorrow, his voice bitter with an old pain. "He saved me, in more ways then one. If it hadn't been for him..." Ulysses trailed off when he heard a mysterious noise, almost silent, but still audible: A faint footstep.

Xander heard it to, and quickly turned around with the All-American, aiming the sights directy towards someone cloaked right behind them.

"Wait!" They yelled. The cloak dropped, revealing none other then Katrina Hollister, the Reaper. "That wouldn't be a good idea." She said.

Ulysses stood up and quickly got Xander to lower his gun. He took a good look at her once Xander had calmed down. She wasn't dressed in her usual cloak and mask. This time she was wearing a suit of Lightweight Leather Armor, wielding a Sturdy Caravan Shotgun, while having a Stealth Boy Mark II on her arm. Her snow colored Fallen Angel hair, her emerald eyes, and her pale skin, all the features of John.

Ulysses spoke first. "Hello Katrina." Ulysses said, caution in his voice. He looked at her uneasily, slowly reaching for his weapons.

"Hello Ulysses." She replied. Observing his motions, she could tell he was uneasy, and knew why. "Listen to me, I know you don't trust me, and you have good reason too, but I need to speak to John, where is he?"

Ulysses was still suspicious, but could tell this was genuinely urgent. "He's in the palace, trying to rescue Lanius."

"WHAT?" She asked, horrified. "Get him out now!"

We can't contact him from out here. Ulysses declared.

"Then find a way, he's walking into a trap!"

* * *

Legion Archives

John, Sarah, and Andromeda advanced through the bloodied halls of the Legion Palace, the stench of the dead beginning to fade as they reached the archives. The doors they had been told were unbreachable were swung wide open, and inside the lights were off, all except for some dim torches, and embers among the debris. They could see some bookcases, filled with old literature, as well as tables split in two by falling debris. They advanced inside, not noticing Andromeda was waiting near the door.

The inside had two stores, an upper area, with a crushed staircase leading upwards. It was incredibly dark, and they couldn't see much, but they could seen enough.

They started to look through some of the wreckage, searching for any sign of survivors. The books were mainly burnt, the shelves they were held on charred, and the wreckage that had fallen seemed to have crushed several survivors. They could still hear the roar of the battle above, and could tell they were losing. The embers weren't from the holograms, they were from the Vertibirds Bombing Runs.

"I don't think Lanius made it." Sarah said, nervously.

"Maybe..." John said, looking through the debris. He managed to move some of the stone, and saw something below. He reached in and picked it out: Lanius's Mask.

He began to investigate it. "It's still warm, and there's no blood on it." He looked at the inside. "Not a scratch, he could have survived. What do you think, An..." He turned around to see her standing in the doorway, her hand on the doors. He knew what was about to happen.

"NO!" John yelled, but he was too late. Andromeda slammed the doors shut, leaving them trapped.

John and Sarah ran to the door. They searched for a way to open it, they tried to find a doorknob, a switch, Sarah even tried shooting out, but it was all for nothing.

Sarah threw herself against it in one last attempt to open it, but it didn't budge.

"It's useless." She declared. They backed up into the room, and John began to mutter and curse.

"Damn it!" John yelled. "This was all a set up!"

Sarah looked at him. "Can you say Xander was wrong now?" She asked, sarcastically. John gave one glare at her and she immediately became serious again. "If this was always a trap, why did she lead us down here?" Sarah asked, making a good point. John looked at her, not understanding her. "She could have killed us at any time, but she chose to lock us down here. Why?"

John began to take that into consideration. Had this all been about getting him out of the picture, she could have just shot him. Yet here they were, in a far too elaborate trap. He began to realize that this was something else entirely, this wasn't just a trap; it was a puzzle. All the pieces falling into place, perfectly fitting together. Andromeda hadn't organized this trap, this required surgical percision and careful planning, not the savage tactics of the Legion. That's when he finally put it together, the motive, the trap, and most of all: The holograms. Only one man had all of them.

"At long last." A frail voice called out. John and Sarah looked around, trying to find who was speaking, but it wasn't hard for John to figure it out.

"I'm glad I get to see this up close." It said again. They finally spotted him, standing on the balcony not too far up. He looked different then he used too, more greyed, more broken, more deranged, but it was him, John could never forget that face.

Father Elijah.

The lights suddenly went on across the room, revealing them to be surrounded on all sides by Hannibal's soldiers. Each of them dressed in Tesla Recon Armor, all wielding Gauss Rifles, and all aiming right at them.

Elijah looked down from the second floor, smiling. His hair was ragged, his face was cut up, his eyes wide, and his face practically screaming insanity at them.

"I have waited so long for this day, Courier. The day I finally have revenge."

"The day you die."


	22. With a Bang, not a Whimper

Well, I'm getting back into a routine, even with the longer chapters. Hope everyone is still enjoying this story, if you think I should stop, please say something. Other then that, Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: You're about to see he may hold the winning hand after all. If you thought that last twist was big, get ready for a gigantic one.

Oddliver: He's not heading the Legion, he's beheading it. You're about to see what I mean.

Exile037: May last longer then you think.

Dragonclaw1000: Glad you're enjoying the twists, and also glad people are okay with the longer chapters and waits. I'm not leaving anyone hanging!

Sgtranglin: Glad to hear i'm keeping things interesting.

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Chapter 22

With a Bang, not a Whimper

Flagstaff Archives

Deep in those archives, the Courier and Sarah stood outnumbered and outgunned by Elijah's forces. They all had Gauss Rifles aimed at the Courier's head, they all were planning to kill him. Yet, despite the desperation of the situation, all the Courier did was laugh. He laughed and laughed, with everyone watching him. Sarah looked at him like he was insane, Elijah watched annoyed.

"I don't see what's funny Courier." Elijah said, looking at the Courier, who was smiling as he laughed.

"No." John declared. "No you wouldn't!" He continued to laugh. "I'm the only one who sees it, aren't I? HAHAHAHA!"

Elijah ordered one of the soldiers to shoot John in the foot as he was laughing hysterically. The soldier missed, just narrowly, and struck the floor. John wiped a tear from his eye as he calmed down.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. There's just so much sweet irony in this." John said, looking up at Elijah. "This is just too great."

"You won't be so happy when you're a pile of ash." Elijah threatened.

"I don't think that will happen." John declared. "You always were arrogant, always believe you had an edge. I guess staying down in that Vault for a few years didn't help you."

"SEVEN YEARS!" Elijah screamed. "Seven years of eating nothing but the food in that horrid vending machine, seven years of speaking to the shadows around me for company, and seven years of finding a way to have my vengeance." John just looked at him, not smiling anymore, just an expression of cleverness and perception. He felt no pity, he felt no sadness, he felt nothing but satisfaction at Elijah's suffering.

"You know what IS funny, Courier? I spent seven years planning vengeance, but it only took five for it to begin." Elijah declared. John's face slowly began to turn to a mix of confusion and fear, rather than cleverness. "For all your perception you never did notice the pattern, did you?"

John slowly smiled again. "Maybe not, but you know what I did notice?" He asked, smugly. "The big guy with the sword behind you."

Elijah quickly ducked and narrowly avoided being chopped clean in half, but the blade did some damage. Bright crimson blood was surfacing as he screeched in pain, his muscles tightening as he bleed. The attacker was none other than Legate Lanius himself. John had been correct in assuming he had survived, but saying he got away clean would be a lie. His face was savagely maimed and burned, skin torn to shreds, the black and red mixing together with shards of bone, all making up a hideous deformity. His jaw was slightly elongated, his skull dented, and his eyes bloodshot with dried stains of crimson tears. Hannibal's soldiers were no less ready for this turnabout either, as Legionaries burst through the door, opening fire on Elijah's forces from below. Bullets raced through the air, lead cutting through the armor and flesh of the enemy, leaving nothing but blood and crushed bone. John quickly drew into V.A.T.S, and opened fire, tearing through several other soldiers, rendering their hearts and lungs nothing more than popped balloons. If they didn't bleed to death, they suffocated.

Lanius took another swing at Elijah, this time with a wide arc, and narrowly shredded his arm, cutting several layers of skin off.

"You burn my empire, you burn my city, you turn my Legate against me, and you expect me to sit by while you steal my well deserved conquest!?" Lanius yelled, the conquest referring to the Courier. Even though he had been on peaceful terms with John, they both knew it was not to last. In time war would come again, and another battle at Hoover Dam would decide who was truly the champion of the southwest. For now, though, they faced a common enemy.

"Hannibal's reign of terror has cost me much, but in the end, it will be I standing over his broken corpse, with your head on a pike! For the Legion!" Lanius's war cry was quickly followed by the death of the remaining enemies and a deadly swing of the sword, but much to everyone's surprise, it just passed through him. No injuries, no blood, no anything. Elijah stood smiling, his wounds vanished in the blink of an eye. Slowly, all the color vanished from Elijah, revealing nothing more than a shining blue light shaped like Elijah, and in the center a small floating sphere.

John understood immediately: The sphere was a projector, "Elijah" was nothing more tham a hologram.

"You honestly thing I would actually risk myself for your pointless city." It said. "I tricked you all, gave you a show to stall you, and if I were you, I would get out of that burning city as quickly as possible." Elijah's hologram vanished almost immediately, and Lanius dropped down to the bottom floor, taking back his helmet, and placing it firmly on his head.

"I did not expect you to come here, even with Andromeda's false message." Lanius declared. "I believed you would see through the ruse."

Sarah cut in after taking a suit of the Tesla Recon Armor. "I take it she's not with you anymore?" She said, sarcastically.

"Hardly, she betrayed the Legion in exchange for her own safety. To think she sided with that Cursed Confederation..."

"Confederation?" John asked, not sure what he meant. From what they heard, Hannibal's armies called themselves New Carthage, not any sort of Confederation.

Lanius seemed troubled that John had heard that word. "The term I use for Hannibal." He said, rather quickly. "His army, they are not conquests, they are an alliance of tribes under a single flag."

John looked at him with suspicion but began feeling the palace shaking, and stopped caring as pieces of the ceiling were falling.

"We need to move. The Raven is waiting." Sarah declared.

"And abandon Flagstaff? Never." Lanius declared.

The palace continued to shake as Hannibal's forces hammered the palace with artillery.

"Soon enough, there won't be a Flagstaff to abandon." John said, hoping he would see reason.

Lanius looked around at the wreckage, and he recognized the truth. The Legion was dead, they had to run. He nodded at the Courier, and they all took off running.

* * *

On the outside, Andromeda was retreating towards the Raven, thinking her plan had gone off without a hitch. The tanks had fired from the north side, while they had landed to the south. The Courier's task force had gone down fighting, unable to find a weak point in the enemy vehicles. Their armor deflected all forms of Energy Weapons, and bullets just bounced off. They just couldn't figure out a way to penetrate it, they even had dropped cluster bombs on the tanks. Other than some burn marks, it had sustained no damage. The alloy being used in the armor was similar to the metal used to create Vaults, meaning it was near indestructible.

Andromeda entered the building that led up to the Raven. She thought Ulysses hadn't seen her leave the building, so she believed she was in the clear.

She ascended the stairwell, believing she would be in the clear, but the moment she opened the door, she was grabbed by a cloaked Katrina, who was armed with her iconic sword. She drew the blade across Andromeda's throat.

"Where is my brother?" She demanded an answer.

"Who-"

"WHERE IS HE?!" She yelled. Ulysses and Xander made their presence known.

"We know you're working with Elijah and Hannibal. Where is the Courier?" Ulysses asked, now knowing of the situation through Katrina.

Katrina threw Andromeda to the floor. "I swear to god, if you hurt him, I will make you suffer until you beg to die." Katrina declared. She had a firm grip on her sword, and placed it with range of Andromeda's heart. Xander walked up to her and held out a spear.

"Get in line." He declared.

Andromeda looked up at them, smiling.

"So much courage... from a false Reaper and a baby Sparrow... all for a dead man." Andromeda said. She expected one of them to be the ones who killed her, but suddenly the door swung open from behind, and a single well placed shot, killed the Legate, reducing her to nothing more than crisp ash and glowing embers. The killer was Sarah Lyons, armed with her Laser Rifle, and behind them John and Lanius quickly emerged.

"Thumbs down, you bitch!" Sarah Lyons yelled.

"Nice shot." John said. He looked around at the group, of course only one person actually raised some concern.

"Katrina?" He asked, seeing her standing nearby. She immediately looked up at him, a look of relief on her face.

"You're all right!" She exclaimed, happy to see her brother. He didn't return that sentiment, he looked at her with bitter pain and anger.

"Why are you here?" He asked, coldly. Her face slowly became grim. She hadn't realized how much she had hurt him, or how much an impact she had on his personality. He held no love for her anymore, just disappointment and pain.

"I was sent by my employers to warn you of the trap... and to extend an invitation." Katrina said, somewhat nervous and hesitantly.

"Invitation?" John asked.

"My employers want to meet you face to face." Katrina declared. "They have information that could prove invaluable."

While everyone else was coming to terms with the situation, Xander walked to the edge of the building on lookout, making sure no one approached the building. Rather then seeing anyone approach, he spotted something entirely unexpected.

"Um... guys..." Xander spoke. They didn't hear him, they were all too busy. His voice was filled with terror, his face was pale as the moonlight shining in the night, and his eyes were wide as sky.

"Guys!" He still was not heard. With one good shout and all his breath, he yelled again. "GUYS!" He bellowed. This time he got their attention. They all looked at him waiting for a reason for interrupting them.

"Hannibal's army..." He took a pause for a moment, not believing what he was seeing. "They're retreating." He said, slow and unsure of what to do.

John walked up to the building corner, along with Lanius and Ulysses. He took out his spyglass, something of a souvenir from his days as an actual Courier, and looked towards the tanks and vehicles. Even though they had beaten New Vegas's army and destroyed the Legion, Xander was right, Hannibal's army was retreating.

"Cowards. They don't even bother to finish the job." Lanius declared, watching the sand and dust rising as they ran.

Ulysses watched with skepticism. "This doesn't seem right..." He said, hesitantly. The vehicles were out of visual range now, and nothing but an eerie silence remained in Flagstaff. There wasn't even a breeze in the wind, just silence and the feeling of defeat. "They had us outnumbered, they had us outgunned, they had us outmaneuvered, yet they just leave. Why?" Ulysses asked.

John looked around for a while, searching for any reason they would have turned away. He felt tense, like something was crushing his muscles against his bones. There was absolutely no reason for them to leave like that. Then he thought about it, the Watcher had let Orion live, simply out of satisfaction to make him live in fear. Maybe this was Hannibal's own solution, maybe it was them trying to intimidate them, but then he felt the wind pick up, and it was picking up fast. A soft breeze turned into a violent gust, and they saw the clouds begin to shift, as a massive silhouette flew through the shrouds of smoke. It must have been half a mile long, like nothing they had ever seen. It began to descend from the veil of clouds, brief bursts of the afternoon sky behind it. John couldn't believe what he was looking at.

It was a massive airship, black as the darkest hour of night, shaped like a rectangular prism, half a mile long and hundreds of feet wide, towering at least twenty stories, with eight huge, cylindrical, engines, big as two-story houses, emitting an almost eye-melting blue fire, as it flew closer to the city. The ships edges had small walls, big enough to keep people from falling off, while ten, gigantic, twin barreled, guns sat on the upper deck of the ship, designed to shoot down enemy aircraft. One shell from them was bigger then the Raven itself. Similar guns hung on the bottom of the ship, and both sides were also littered with immense amount of average-sized Anti-Aircraft Guns. The bridge of the behemoth was located in the front of ship, forming a sort of large octagon on the ship's upper deck, with the commander having a clear view of the situation on the ground below. All in all, it was a pure killing machine, and painted on the side of the ship, in bright scarlet red, with the direct intent of being an insult to the Courier, read three words: New World Misery.

Everyone fell paralyzed by the ship's display of immense size and power, but were quickly snapped out of it seconds later when two of New World Misery's massive guns fired at the city below, causing entire buildings to implode with the shell's force. They all felt the shockwave knock them back as the buildings crumbled in the distance. The other gun's of the ship quickly did the same, bombarding the area's where Hannibal's forces had been, reducing it to piles of molten rubble, eight more shells hit the ground, causing entire city blocks to shatter apart thanks to the size and shock of these horrifying weapons. The shells themselves shattered on impact, launching shrapnel in all directions, and releasing a disturbing toxic green gas.

"Get to the Raven!" John yelled into the open. The group dashed towards the Raven, not even caring whether or not Katrina was with them. They raced towards the Raven, but as they ran Ulysses began to stumble, blood rushing through his breathing mask in thick crimson streams, he collapsed to the ground, the pain becoming too much for him.

John looked back at his fallen friend. "ULYSSES!" He yelled. He turned back and grabbed him as the shells got closer. He picked him up on his shoulder, trying to move him, but at this rate he wouldn't make it. As they stumbled, he felt someone else pick up Ulysses from the other side, and he looked to see Katrina. They rushed across the rooftop, quickly boarding the Raven, Katrina took full hold of Ulysses, and John ran for the cockpit, he activated the engines, and they lifted off at unimaginale speeds, narrowly avoiding another shell, which disintegrated the building.

From the Raven, Lanius and his surviving Legionaries looked back at the city one last time, and watched as New World Misery unleashed it's full force. Shells rained from the sky like a storm, explosion after explosion tearing apart all that remained of the dead city. The palace, towering high above the city streets, collapsed. In one final flash, the Legion perished, the survivors left to carry a burning flag.

* * *

Moscow - Red Square

The jaw of an ancient corpse was forced open as the Dark Crucible blew open the doors to the Kremlin. They walked in weapons raised. So far none of them had encountered any resistance, or anything at all, the city seemed completely abandoned. Yet Orion was convinced that would change as he entered a pitch black room. He looked into the shadows and saw nothing, not a weapon, a suit of armor, or even a person. Just the shadows.

He smiled with pride. "Come out, Ivanoff. You can't run." Orion declared, Lazarus and Strife by his side. All of a sudden, a screen turned on in front of them, a massive projector screen, and a face emerged on it. It was the face of Director Andrick Ivanoff, leader of Supremacy Five. He was dressed in an old advanced radiation suit, minus the helmet. His face was wrinkled, his lower jaw was partially broken, and his eyes practically screamed insane.

"I think you should be the one running." He said, laughing. Suddenly, they heard a beeping noise, faint at first, but then getting louder and louder, until it sounded like a thousand siren's going off at once. Orion didn't see them, but he knew they were there: Lantern Bombs, dozens of them.

He could barely think as Moscow was incinerated, the Dark Crucible still inside.


	23. An Unfortunate Setback

I'm back. This is a relatively short chapter, really just a bit of development for the Dark Crucible, and an author's note at the end as well as an important question.

* * *

CyberJordan: Glad you like the longer chapters, sorry this one isn't as long as the rest of the new ones. As for the rest of your review, Orion would finish him quicker then that, and may even have reason to by the end.

Oddliver: Yeah, that may be the best option. :)

Slovous: Glad to see your back and reviewing, I was worried you weren't reading anymore. He's not going anywhere anytime soon, but I can't say that mean's he'll live.

Vino213: Thank you. I'm glad you still like the story.

Dragonclaw1000: Great to see someone picked up on that detail, I always loved that line. Elijah is carrying out his plans from a new location, the Vault and Sierrra Madre are wide open.

Exile037: Lanius now has a personal score to settle with him, so you may see that yet, but like I said above: For now, Hiding may be a good idea.

sgtranglin: Thank you, Katrina is an OC I really enjoy writing.

* * *

Chapter 23

An Unfortunate Setback

In the crater that was once Moscow, silence had fallen. Not even a vulture dared to fly near the ruins, there was a sense of dread looming around it, one that even the most desperate scavengers would not dare approach. Yet, even then, they had to eat some time. A lone Blackbird flew over the crater, descending towards a small pile of rubble. It crowed, landing on top of the slab of stone on the top. It looked around for a moment, thinking there was something to scavenge in the ruins, and began searching. It pecked the stone for a little, trying to taste any sort of food, only to come up short. It flew away for a moment, not realizing how lucky it was. For suddenly, from beneath the stone, a hand burst forward. It was mechanical, covered in saturnite and steel, and twitching slightly. Moments later, the slab of stone crumbled away as a beam of energy tore through, revealing Orion, still alive and dangerous. He stood up out of the wreckage and irradiated stone, looking around at his surroundings. His armor was almost completely torn away, revealing only his mechanical body, and face. The whites of his eyes were a damning red, and his pupils a solid black. His mechanical face had been slightly breached, the metal on the left half of his face was simply torn to microscopic fragments, revealing a mechanical skull, almost identical to a humans, but no nose or ears, matching his face from the outside. His body was sleek, a light grey metal skin, with the basic shape of a male human in perfect physical condition, and he had the strength and intelligence to match it.

No matter how he looked, however, it wasn't hard to tell he was angry.

He looked around, switching his eyes to a sort of x-ray vision, looking into the rubble and discovering the rest of the Crucible. They had all survived, and slowly but surely they rose out of the ground as well, with similar reactions as Orions. By far Lazarus had taken the least amount of damage, mainly having been protected by a steel frame that had fallen close to him, holding the stones above him in place around him, his armor had been burned, but not too badly. Strife had taken some damage, a sparking eye, several breaches and dents in her metal skin, but nothing irreparable. The same could not be said for Archangel. She barely managed to force herself out of the wreckage, and when she did, she collapsed, rolling down a small hill of wreckage, and landing on a pile of bricks. Her legs were gone, in there place were torn stubs and shattered metal, a bright green oil rushed on the stones and bricks, staining them with a toxic burn. Her lower jaw was shattered, with only electricity sparking forward from his face, her neon blue eyes dimming slowly. Her right arm was nearly torn from its socket, save for a few wires and a skeletal frame holding the two parts of her shoulder together. From the outside it looked like a jaw had opened, and her jagged and torn metal skin were rows of sharp teeth.

"Damn you, Ivanoff." Orion whispered, a savage hatred in his voice. He looked around for any sign of Supremacy Five or Vandal, when he spotted the blackbird. It looked at him, seemingly curious. Orion was irritated with its presence, as it seemed to be mocking him. He fired a beam of paralyzing bright orange energy directly at it. The blackbird was quick, however, and flew away just in time. Orion followed the bird with his eyes for a moment, then stopped as his gaze met the sky. It was covered in a veil of grey smoke, glowing a vile green at times. Ash fell like snow, gentley falling to Earth, hitting the ground with the lightest touch, as if it was nothing more than a feather. It had crisp red flames burning on it, they had only been out for roughly 30 minutes.

"Orion!" He heard Strife yell. His head jolted towards his sister, who had moved down to Archangel. Orion pulled himself fully from the wreckage. He was surprised to find that the rest of his body had sustained little to no damage, other than a few burns and injuries similar to the one on his head. He was somewhat grateful his armor had taken most of the blast, for he knew the truth that his enemies must never know:

Even though they were machines, they shared all the weaknesses of a human being.

Orion didn't focus on that truth often, it brought fear, something he could not allow, something that his cause could not survive. He began to descend the hill, scanning the area as he did, and made his way to Archangel. Before he reached her, however, he saw the Blackbird again, sitting on a nearby hill of stones. He thought about trying to kill it again, but he decided against it, simply not wanting to waste any power. He didn't think about how odd it was that a Blackbird was here at all, or that it seemed to be acting strange. Had he noticed that, he may have realized what it was. For on the inside, the Blackbird was nothing more than circuits and wires, its eyes were hidden surveillance cameras. It flew away, heading back towards to warn who sent it that their enemy had survived.

Orion slid down a large hill of wreckage, not caring about any extra damage from either the radiation or scrap cutting into his metal body. As dust and small stones settled crumbled, Orion arrived at Archangel, Strife kneeled over her broken body, while Lazarus was using a fusion cutter to seal the damage.

Archangel looked up at Orion, her sparking, broken, eyes weeping despair and pain.

"O...ri...on?" She asked, static cutting in between syllables unsure if she what she was seeing was actually Orion or some malfunction in her dying systems.

He nodded. His expression was still as cold as ever. Despite being designed to feel all emotions, all he seemed to feel was hatred and avarice. Orion had never been one to feel anything short of greed and hatred Lazarus seemed to finish sealing Archangel's legs, but it was in vain. She still sparked and bleed, there was no way he could save her in time.

"I...fail...ed you...Broth...er." She weakly squealed. Before she was feeling pain, now she was beginning to feel nothing at all. Lazarus seemed to feel the most pain from this, as he had undergone unimaginable pain at the hands of Supremacy Three. Lazarus felt more emotion then most of the Crucible because of that torturous treatment. Sometime he felt pride, sometimes he felt compassion, but most of the time he felt hate.

Archangel slowly spoke her last words, her voice becoming weaker and weaker. "The savages...won... I'm sorry brother. I'm... I'm... So... sorry..."

Orion kneeled down. He looked directly into her eyes as they flickered away. He spoke three words.

"I forgive you."

Suddenly, Orion drew his energized gauntlet, and punched his hand, straight through the chest of the dying A.I's shattered body, gaining a hard solid grip on a device where the human heart would be, and tore it from her chest, sparks and the green oil spilling from the remains. Archangel's eyes ceased to flicker, her body fell stiff. She was dead, or at least shut down. Orion raised his second gauntlet. It glowed with a bright blue light, and within moments disintegrated the remains of Archangel, ensuring no one else would find her body and their technology.

Lazarus looked on in horror. "WHAT DID YOU DO?" Lazarus's bony face lit up with horror.

"Euthanasia. She was about to expire, I chose to save what was important." Orion declared. "She may have been one of us, but past that, she was nothing more than a tool, mere means to an end, as you all are."

Lazarus's horror turned to rage, Orion simply looked at him coldly. "I would calm yourself, for all is not yet lost." He said. He showed Lazarus what he tore from Archangel. It was a small device, shaped like a cross, a dark navy blue, with indigo circuits running the length of the device.

"Is that what I think it is?" Lazarus asked, incredibly surprised.

Orion smiled at Lazarus. "One of the Resolution Keys. You all have one, it's what keeps you all active, and why you are all needed. If Utopia is to rise, we will need it." Lazarus now seemed to understand Orion's actions. He went silent, and Orion looked towards Strife. "Whatever the cost, we need to find Vandal. Even if we have to tear through every-"

Before Orion could finish speaking, he glanced to the left. His eyes locked on a small animal: the Blackbird he had shot at, sitting on a nearby hill of stones. It stared at him, whether out of curiosity or simple confusion, it stared into Orion's eyes. He thought about trying to kill it again, it would be quick, and relatively painless for the bird, but something compelled him not to. It's eyes, they had the same colors as his. It didn't wait for him to catch on, it flew away, disappearing into the skies. Orion stopped staring, and looked back at Lazarus and Strife, who looked at him with concern. None of them thought about how odd it was that the Blackbird had returned, or that it had been there in the first place. Had they noticed that, they may have realized what it was. For on the inside, the Blackbird was nothing more than circuits and wires, it's eyes were hidden surveillance cameras. It flew out of range, heading back towards to warn who sent it that their enemy had survived. As it did, ash continued to fall from above, starting to glow green with the same radioactive decay as the world around them.

A reminder of one war, the beginning of one yet to come.

* * *

**Author's Note - Important - Please Read**

**This chapter would have been longer, but I had to give the Crucible a little more of a spotlight, and I've got Writer's Block past that. However, that is not what this note is about. Recently, several people, two authors on this site in particular (Look at the reviews you can guess which ones) have decided to troll me and insult me. They've said my story is boring or too long, among other things.**

**Let me make something crystal clear: I know I'm not the best writer in the world. I accept critical reviews, if they're trying to help me improve at writing. THAT DOES NOT INCLUDE PUTTING THE LINK TO YOUR STORY IN MY REVIEWS AND ARROGANTLY SAYING IT'S BETTER OR CALLING ME OUT IN YOUR OWN STORY AND TELLING ME I'M TERRIBLE! This has been eating at me for a while, new authors on the site thinking it's a smart idea to act like a King if they don't like you're story, but this crossed a major line. Here's a brilliant idea:****If you don't like mine or someone else's story, STOP READING IT!**

**I don't write stories because of an ego, I write them because I enjoy it. I'm done trying to please everyone, I'm doing it my way. If you have suggestions, ideas, or OC's,**** I'll still take them, if you have constructive criticism, I'll read it and act on it, but for the love of god, don't go as far to troll and insult me, I have enough pain in my life without that.**

**On to something slightly light-hearted. I've put up a poll. It's whether you want to see a revision or remake of my original story, Fallout: Supremacy One. If you want to check it out, it's on my profile.**

**I hope to put out another chapter sometime this month, hopefully longer then this one. For now, goodbye.**


	24. No More Hope

Hello. Right off the bat, thank you all so very much for your support with the Trolls. That was a very big confidence booster, and it made my day. Thank you all so much.

We're back to longer updates, so Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: You may have to wait for it to kick into full gear, but it's coming, and there going somewhere a little familiar for it.

Slovous: I can't have them be perfect, can I? They're not gods, and Orion may have to learn that the hard way.

Exile037: Orion's pride and his own arrogance was always going to be his downfall, but with John and Leon busy

Dragonclaw1000: Thank you for the encouragement. I'm glad I made that much of a difference.

sgtranglin: I don't blame you. I blocked them the second I put up the chapter.

crosawood: Thank you. I'm glad you still like it.

The Night Hunter: Don't worry, he's back in this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 24

No More Hope

Atomic Wrangler

The casino floor was a sea of people. Gamblers, drunks, Kings, even Followers were down below going about their business. Some were making and breaking fortunes on Blackjack, some were downing a glass of hard liquor to wash away pain, some were watching a performance by the Lonesome Drifter, who was making a special guest appearance, singing his famous song and national anthem of the New Vegas Confederacy, Home on the Wastes. Yet, behind the curtains and flashing lights, nothing but empty promises and twisted agendas remained. Sitting at one of the tables was Lieutenant Betsy, of the now disbanded First Recon and active member of the Dead Man's Hand. She was dressed in a Bounty Hunter Duster, her hair grown out to a more seductive form, hoping to catch the eyes of a lucky girl. Instead, her old friend, Corporal Sterling, sat down at the seat across from her, dressed in a relatively clean Gamblers Suit, and holding two glasses and a bottle of Wine.

He poured a glass and passed it to her. "On me." He said, joyfully. "Hit a 500 cap Jackpot on a Slot Machine."

Betsy looked at the drink cautiously. She took a sip, hearing the song reach it's conclusion, and then looked back at Sterling.

"Just because we have a night off doesn't mean you should go native, Sterling." Betsy said, sternly.

Sterling chuckled slightly at that comment. "Good to know you're still yourself Betsy." Sterling quipped, laughing. "Still acting like the NCR is still around, like were still the last thing the world would never see. I don't know if you realized this, but I think we went native when we agreed to join this little team."

"I meant we can't let our guard down." Betsy corrected. "We can't let one night of R&R soften us up."

"I doubt one night will do that." Sterling stated, drinking another glass. He watched as Betsy seemed to take that into account. It was only one night, and besides, not all of them had time for R&R.

Across the street, in the former stronghold of the Van Graff Family, the Silver Rush, one man was having a very bad day. Since the Van Graff's were massacred at the hands of the Courier and the formation of the Confederacy, John lay claim to the building as property of the state, seizing all the Van Graff's assets and accounts. Most of the technology was auctioned off to private bidders to help finance the Confederacy in its early days, while the More Unique Items were kept for the Courier's personal armory. Now the Dead Man's Hand used it as their headquarters, hiding New Vegas's most secretive and élite group of assassins in plain sight.

The man was Phillip Gregory, a member of Jake Raphael's three-man mercenary group, and more importantly, ally of Leon Stinger. His face was covered in dust and dirt, his expression drawn out with anger and resolve, and fresh bruises surfacing across his face. He was dressed in a rugged jacket and torn jeans, with slashes and lacerations cutting into his skin. He was tied to a chair with old belts, and was under the only light in the room. He looked into the shadow as the light dimly flashed.

"Ready to talk yet?" A voice called out from the dark room.

Phillip moved his head straight up. "Go to hell." He replied, angrily struggling to get out of his chair.

"Should I have Meyers keep beating you senseless?" This would all go a lot quicker if you just would tell us what we want to know. Said the voice, getting increasingly close. Out of the darkness, Boone stepped into the light, looking straight at Phillip. It was his voice that was talking.

"Where is Leon Stinger?" Asked the Sniper, his sunglasses reflecting off the flickering light, his hand on his pistol. Phillip didn't respond, and Boone drew the pistol.

"If you won't talk, you'll bleed." He fired two rounds into Phillip's left kneecap, the sounds of the gunfire drowned out by the screech of pain that followed. Blood rushed down Phillip's leg, staining his tattered outfit. His muscles recoiled, he spit out blood from his mouth to add to that rushing down his leg. Meyers used what most would call brutality to get him to talk, Boone called it a necessary action. Meyers had broken all Phillips ribs, smashed both his arms with a hammer, and fractured his pelvis, with massive amounts of internal bleeding. Yet Phillip lived, unwilling to speak.

"You bugged the Lucky 38 with communication relays, allowing Leon to spy on it. I find it hard to believe that only worked one way."

"I'll never speak... Even with my dying breath..." Phillip said, losing the ability to breathe.

Boone smiled with a sadistic glare. "I can make that happen." Boone declared. He fired another two rounds into Phillip's right kneecap, shattering it instantly. Fragments of shattered bone hit the floor as Phillip continued to scream.

"If you want to die, I'm going to make it last."

* * *

Skies above the Divide

The skies of the Divide were as torn and damaged as the ground. The sky itself was fragmented and fractured by the blast, with strange weather patterns in the clouds. Where the Divide lay on the surface of the Earth, clouds converged and vanished, being pulled into a great fissure in the sky. It glowed with a faded blue light, like the Auroras of the Icy North. Instead of beauty, however, all it did was inspire fear, hatred, and sorrow. All too fittingly, the Raven flew just below the fissure, staying out of sight of anything on the ground.

In the cockpit, John sat piloting the ship, looking out onto the fissure. It wasn't something he enjoyed looking at, it reminded him of the pain he inflicted on the residents of the Divide, what they now had to live as. Even if it was just for a moment, if he looked at it, he swore he saw someone looking at him from the fissure. Ghosts from the past, a face perhaps, perhaps it was dozens of faces, hundreds even, all staring at him and asking him one question: Why?

But he didn't dwell on it. He wasn't religious, he didn't believe in gods and devils and spirits. When the end came, no matter how long it took, it would claim him. His thoughts, dreams, and promises devoured into nothingness. That was something else he didn't want to dwell on. Contrary to what most people thought of him, he feared death, he viewed it as the greatest opponent, something he could never defeat, and something that would take them all in the end, whether that was by Elijah, Supremacy One, or simply time, it would find him in the end.

His thoughts were interrupted by Xander, who had walked in and sat down, grunting as he did. John looked at him for a second, then paid attention to where they were flying again.

"Would you mind telling me what the hell happened back there?" Xander asked, grimace in his voice.

"There is nothing to explain, especially not to you." John claimed, looking at the fissure.

"I think there is." Xander declared, looking straight at John. He didn't so much as glance in his direction. Xander decided to try a different approach. "I know what it's like to be in your place, John, I know how hard it can be for you.

"Is that so?" John asked, sarcastically. He flipped on autopilot and looked at Xander. "Then tell me, genius... Do you have any idea what it's like to be betrayed by your only family, used and disposed of, only for them to come back asking for your help again? Or what it's like to have the weight of a thousand dead men on your shoulders, the memory of them burning because of your mistake etched into your brain forever? Do you know anything about that at all? Becuase if you do, you wouldn't be trying to speak with me." John's face was ripe with rage and pain, barely holding back the urge to hit Xander.

Xander remained tall. "No, but I do know pain. I know what it's like to see your family and friends suffer and die around you, their blood running across your hands as you try to save them. I know what it's like to see your closest friend die on your watch, with you not being able to do anything about it. I know what that's like, I saw it firsthand, more than once."

John began to calm down as Xander kept talking. "I may not know what it's like to be the legendary Courier who cheated death, who forged an empire out of nothing, who turned back two armies with his leadership and power, who flew through Raven's Run against an unbeatable enemy, but I do know what it's like to be you, John Hollister, a human being who has a burden on his back bigger then he can carry." Xander stood up from his chair. "If you think you're the only one suffering in the world, you need to take a trip outside and take a good hard look at the world. Take a deep breath and smell the ashes."

Xander walked to the back of the craft, and John still sat there, pondering those last few words. He didn't have long to ponder them though, as they had reached their destination. Below them, Ulysses Temple loomed, the Missile Silo opening as they descended. In seconds the Raven decended into the Temple, and the silo doors closed, sealing as the sky above filled with storm clouds.

* * *

Had you been inside the temple only two years ago, you would remember sand, dust, dirt, and debris, nothing alive except Ulysses and the Courier himself. Now, it was lit up with activity. Scientists, Soldiers, Engineers, and all sorts of other personnel from the Chicago Outpost had joined the ranks of the Old World Guard, establishing New Hopeville, as it was called. Where dirt and rock once lay was now a wall of Computers, monitors, and sensors. They had regained control of the Missiles that remained in the Divide after the Long 15 and Dry Wells attacks, keeping them all on standby. Eyebots flew through the Divide, keeping an eye on the Tunnelers and the Marked Men. They were rebuilding, slowly but surely, and the Divide had improved, becoming more habitable as the former Enclave continued to expand from the temple.

The Raven landed softly on the base of the Missile Platform that once held the main warhead, where Ulysses torn and tattered flag still hung, a reminder of what the Old World Guard stood to redeem. Medical teams swarmed the platform, boarding the Raven to get Ulysses. John had sent word ahead of time about Ulysses hoping they could mobilize quickly enough to save him.

They carried him out, still unconscious and out of commission, and as they left, General John Cassidy, more commonly known as Checkmate, walked forward to meet the Courier as he stepped off the Raven with his companions.

"Commandant." He said, addressing the Courier by his official state title. Checkmate, as usual, was wearing his skin-tight black and white checkered hazard suit.

"General." John responded, looking at Checkmate. His face was worn, his eyes weary, but he was still standing and talking.

"You look like you've been through hell." Quipped the General.

"All but." John replied, limping slightly. "I assume you've read my report."

"I have, and I find the situation troubling." Checkmate said, hands behind his back.

"Troubling? I've got a problem with my staff if you find a floating fortress commanded by a crazed lunatic "troubling"." John angrily stated.

"It's not that Elijah isn't a threat, but where he found that terror, let alone engineers and pilots capable of flying it, is more intriguing to me then the man himself." Checkmate declared. He looked behind John, and spotted Lanius and his Legionnaires exit the Raven.

"I see we have guests." The general stated, a solid tone of hatred in his voice. "Should I escort them to a prison cell?"

John turned and looked at them. "No." He replied, hesitantly. "Take them for debriefing. Find out everything they know about Elijah and his weapons, they must have figured something out about them."

Checkmate nodded. "Very well. However, there is another situation that has developed. You may want to see this."

"Unless it's Supremacy One related, I don't care." John declared, looking back at Lanius.

"It is." Checkmate declared, any humor in his voice gone immediately. John looked back at him, a look of grim surprise on his face.

"You need to see this for yourself, John. Follow me."

Checkmate walked up the steps from the launch platform, and John quickly followed, unsure of whether he would like this discovery.

Knowing Supremacy One, though, he had a feeling he wouldn't.

* * *

He followed Checkmate down to the elevator, then took a left into a locked door nearby. The rusted steel withered as it opened, proving it had been rarely used until they had moved in. The Courier walked into the door after Checkmate, discovering it led to a large corridor. A passing patrol saluted Checkmate and the Courier, then continued along their route, with the Courier and Checkmate heading in the other direction. They walked down the corridor, there footsteps sounding like a loud stomp on the floor as it echoed through the hall. The Courier glanced at some of the other routes; one led to the Medical Wing, whose name was self-explanatory. One led to Eyebot Development, where they improved and designed new eyebots for various purposes. That had been the Courier's own little tribute to ED-E's creator, Whitley, using his schematics to develop the ED Series in full.

They walked a little further through New Hopeville, revealing it to be much larger than Ulysses had thought when he first found it, before reaching their destination. The door slid open, and revealed Research and Development Area. The Courier walked in, his eyes darting around the room and looking at the tables. He spotted several different projects, including tables stocked with Modified Plasma and Laser Rifles, several Experimental Flame Based weapons, and on the very back table, gutted and torn apart by the Old World Guard, was the Blackbird that had watched Orion in Moscow.

Checkmate and the Courier walked over to the table, the Courier knowing immediately this was what Checkmate wanted to show him, and he was not impressed.

It arrived earlier this morning, must have been through a mess on its way here. Checkmate said, holding up the small robotic bird.

"This is what was so important?" John asked, irritated. "A robotic Blackbird?"

"Not a Blackbird." He pressed a button on the bird, and suddenly the Blackbird's feathers turned a bright white and grey.

"It's a Mockingbird, and that's not what is important." Checkmate declared, looking at the bird.

"What is?" John asked, feeling like he was missing something.

"What it saw." Checkmate pressed another button, cleverly disguised as a vertebrae. Suddenly the bird's mouth opened with a loud squeal, a shining blue light, similar to the one of the Big MT. satellite, and projected a hologram across the wall.

At first it was a first-person overlook at ruins, piles of rubble, and smoke. It flew down towards one of them, pecking down on the ruins. As it pecked, an analysis of the irradiated stone appeared, revealing its molecular compound and make-up, as well as a list of observations. As they watched, Orion's beam of energy blasted out of the ground, the machine flew away quickly, and John saw Orion break free, remembering him all too well from New York. He was ready to stop the footage there, but then he saw the area, and at long last, he saw the Dark Crucible. He listened carefully to what they were saying, and watched as Orion murdered Archangel. The footage cut out as the bird had flown away, having recorded all it needed too.

Checkmate began speaking as the footage ended. "This Mockingbird hasn't been the first we've received. Whoever sent this one has sent at least five others since the Spearhead. Each were related to Supremacy One activity. We don't have any idea who sends them or why, but they want us to stay ahead, whoever they are." Checkmate continued to speak, but John simply spaced out. He didn't hear anything that Checkmate was saying, he just focused on that image. The image of the Dark Crucible. John could barely handle Orion, now he had to deal with three of his kind, not even knowing about the remaining two.

If you asked him seconds ago what he saw on the horizon, he would have said there was a horizon of plans, preparations, and stratagems. Now all he could see was Judgement Day, racing ever closer with every passing second.

The worst part, though, wasn't that it was coming. It was that he had no idea how to stop it.

* * *

Confederacy Frontier

"Damn my luck." Leon thought, grimacing at his Pip-Boy. He had retreated to his town in the frontier when he found out that Flagstaff was under attack, and that Andromeda had gone to the Courier. At the time all he thought of it was good riddance, believing it would give him sufficent time to finish his new eye, and begin working on a plan. He finished his eye, but before he could begin working on a plan, several communications bugs he had planted in the Old World Guard began turning on, clicking and cracking with activity. Reports buzzing around with news of Flagstaff being destroyed by a massive airship, of a Mockingbird relaying footage of the Dark Crucible, and of Ulysses semi-comatose state.

Before he even heard the name Elijah, Leon knew exactly what was going on. What was coming and what would follow. The pattern the Courier had failed to notice was becoming increasingly apparent.

Problem was, Leon didn't know whether to warn the Courier of the truth, of the impending threat that they were all oblivous too. With a Hammer about to fall on Vegas, he wasn't sure leaving the Courier to face it alone was the best option, especially considering that Supremacy One was just on the horizon, there war machine almost ready to march.

Yet, he was still torn. For all the Courier had done, it would be justice to leave him to die, but then Orion would wage genocidal war practically unopposed. His body began to shake with fear of the implications of helping either side in the coming war, making him sweat with terror. That feeling quickly died, a small shread of anger still burning in his heart, but he didn't act. He decided to wait, allowing the others to make the first move.

He drank from a cask of Moonshine. It was strong, warm, but still had it's taste. He put down the cask, and took a deep breath. He thought about looking for a bottle of Hydra or Steady, any kind of chem that would help him relax a little. Ultimately, he just sat there, sat there and thought, for at least two hours. Then there was a knock at the door, a shaky, but solid knock. Leon looked towards the locked door, then turned away thinking it was only a hallucination, but another knock came, louder then before, and this time more controlled. Over and over someone knocked, gentle sometimes, harsh in others, and Leon heard them all. He stood up from his chair, grabbed a Hunting Shotgun he had found in the back rooms, loaded with Dragon's Breath Shells. He walked forward to the door as the knocking continued. He put his ear up to it as he came close, and heard some grumbling on the outside. It sounded like people talking, voices arguing, but was hard to understand over the knocking. He unlocked the door, and the knocking came to a sudden halt. Leon stood up, took a deep breath, and threw the door wide open, shotgun aimed out into the sands.

No one was there. No one at all.

Leon stepped outside for a moment, the sunlight beating down from a pale blue sky, and all that was there in that dusty old ruin was him, preparing to shoot.

He lowered his gun, shaking his head to make sure his vision was clear, then stepped back inside, locking the door as he did.

He moved back to his chair, sat down, and looked at the drink. He threw it across the room, blaming it for making him hear knocking.

He looked up at the lights in as they began to flash rapidly, the power beginning to die.

Leon thought about that for a moment, not sure why power would suddenly fail when he just fixed the generator, and placed in new power cells the day before. He looked down from the lights and almost fell out of his chair when he saw someone looking at him from the shadows. He froze in place, unable to reach for his weapon, when the lights suddenly seemed to burn brighter then ever before, almost blinding him in a burning white light. The person lept forward, grabbing him by the neck. There face came into light, and much to Leon's horror, the face was Amata's, when she had been augmented by the Faction in New York, with the mosaic wires stretching from her face down to a battered suit of Recon Armor.

"Why do you hesitate?" She asked, her voice cold and spinechilling as it echoed through the room. Leon couldn't respond, his body wasn't reacting, almost as though he had been paralyzed. "You promised me justice, yet you fear death at the hands of your enemy." She continued, taking hold of Leon's neck, her grip becoming tighter with every passing word. "If you truly believed in bringing me justice, you would gladly die for your cause." Leon's eyes filled with tears as he remembered watching her body fall to the ground, being helpless to stop it. Looking into her eyes now, he didn't see the caring soul he once knew, all he saw was a bitter hatred, burning behind souless, crystal blue eyes.

"I..." He tried to speak, but the lights increased in their intensity, the saloon beginning to catch fire with the blinding light.

"You never cared about me!" Amata shreiked, dropping him to the ground. Leon was so afraid that his body began to twitch, his limbs numb, and his lungs burned. "All you ever cared about was your own life! You just wanted to prove you were better then the Courier!"

"That's not true!" He finally managed to yell back.

"Then why do you cower here in the dark?!" She raised her hand, reaching towards Leon, her eyes and body beginning to burn with a bright blue flame against the orange fire of the world around him.

Leon just lay there, unable to move. Amata spoke one last time. "If you truly loved me, then join me!" Her skin turned crisp and charred, her body beginning to disintegrate down to nothing more then a skeleton. It wasn't long before she completely disintegrated, and the fire clinged to Leon's body. He screamed in pain, feeling every portion of his body being set aflame with a burning blue glow. He closed his eyes, not wanting to watch himself die, but the pain suddenly stopped.

For a moment he believed he was dead, that this was his hell, a endless void of black, with him wandering it aimlessly for all eternity, but then he opened his eyes, and found he was fine, and so was the rest of the room, albeit his chair was knocked to the ground, and he was actually lying on the floor, his body recoiling in pain as he stood up. At first he felt fine, unable to get a grasp of what just happened. He looked around, noticing that some of the wood had been broken and shattered, his Moonshine spilled over the floor, with burns surrounding where the bottle had broken. He sat down, his hands flet his face, then he let out a gasp of air in relief. Not long after, he began mumbling to himself, slowly allowing tears if blood and salty water rush down his scarred face. He just kept repeating the same thing over and over again...

"I was wrong... I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."


	25. Ghosts and Gods

Wow, it's been nearly a month since I updated this. Sorry about that, preforming damage control on another story I've been writing that upset some over-zealous fans, rewriting said story, and hitting a wall of writer's block several feet thick tends to cripple progress.

* * *

Back to reviews!

CyberJordan: He is, but not right this minute. He's going to have another set of problems on his hands now, one is an old... Acquaintance, and the other, well. Let's just say I took some inspiration from you for this one.

Vino213: Glad to hear I made a good impact. I hope tosee you continue writing as well, I did like where you were going with your second story.

Exile037: There never could be anyone else.

Dragonclaw1000: He's about to have a reason to pull himself back together.

Sgtranglin: Thank you very much.

Benson: Thanks so much. I've always tried to improve, i'm always glad to hear when people take notice. As you see I definitely kept up the long chapters and i'm confident this chapter turned out pretty good. Also, I didn't know I had readers in Holland, thanks for telling me!

Haven't said this in a while so... Read and Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 25

Ghosts and Gods

Lucky 38

John had come back to the Lucky 38 after the Mockingbird's footage, hoping to relax and clear his mind. Xander had left the group when they landed at Camp McCarran, saying he had his own business to take care off. He took a Hummer and started heading towards Utah. Lanius remained at New Hopeville with his Legionnaires, albeit under heavy guard and in containment cells thinly disguised as rooms. Katrina was in similar circumstances; she was free to roam the Strip, but the Securitrons had orders to shoot if she tried to flee. Last but not least, Sarah was coordinating with the various branches of the Confederacy from Camp McCarran, mobilizing their current forces, and accelerating mass production on the MK III Securitrons, preparing for the war to come.

John stood outside his room at the Lucky 38 while Cass had a check-up. She was less than a month away from what should be the happiest day of there lives, but he wasn't sure anyone on Earth would live to see that day come. The dusty walls of the suite seemed unusually empty, giving off a sense of heavy heartiness, but yet it didn't make the situation worse. Not with what John had just seen.

The door cracked open, and out came Arcade Gannon and Dr. Usanagi, who were acting as personal physicians to Cass. Usanagi walked by, leaving on board the elevator, while Arcade stood in front of the Courier.

"How is she?" John asked, anxiously.

"Stable. Perfectly healthy, although I think she can't wait until she can drink Whiskey again." Arcade quipped, his wit and dry humor appreciated more than usual.

"Good, Very Good..." John trailed off mid-sentence, his mind pre-occupied, mainly running through dozens and dozens of different scenarios about the approaching war, none of them ending happily. His mind envisioned destruction, genocide, death on a scale only matched by the Great War, and each time, no matter how many forces they had, they would lose.

Arcade raised an eyebrow at John, snapping his finger in John's face.

"Earth to Courier, do you read me?" He said. He snapped several more times before John grabbed his wrist.

"I hear you." He said, coldly. He let go of Arcade's hand. "You can leave now."

Arcade backed up, before he left in confusion, making sure his wrist was okay as he entered the elevator.

John stepped into his room, looking around at the decayed and dried paint, the dusty walls, the faded dressers and wardrobes, and the bed in the center, it's cover's worn and torn. On the same bed lay Cass, lying alone in a Patient Gown, her normal clothes and hat lying on the couch. She looked up at him, smiling with a smug satisfaction.

"Back so soon? Expected you to be gone for another six months." Cass smirked, her beautiful peach hair loosened from its usual rugged style, making it reach down to her neck. She sat up, her back balanced between a pillow and the beds backboard. John and her shared a kiss before he sat down on the bed next to her.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, thinly hiding his personal fears.

"Like I'm on death row." Cass sighed. "I would kill for a bottle of Whiskey."

John chuckled. "Well, give it a little longer and I'll make sure we have enough to last you a year."

Cass laughed at that, then stopped abruptly, grabbing her upper chest with an audible yelp.

John flinched. "Are you okay?" John asked, taken off guard.

She smiled, her expression fixed and pained. "Yeah, just my heart. My condition's been acting up recently." She explained, her smile dimming.

John let out a sigh of relief. He had forgotten Cass had inherited her father's heart condition. Cass finally saw her husbands fear, seeing it in his eyes, his weary face, and his broken half-smile.

"Something on your mind?" Cass asked, her concern outweighing John's own.

John thought about lying for a moment, but he knew he couldn't. Sooner or later, he would have to tell her what was going on. Better sooner than later, considering the circumstances, but just because he was being honest, that didn't mean he had to be clear.

"What would you do..." John was having a hard time circling the problem. "What would you do... If a member family came back to you, after manipulating you and tormenting your thoughts, and asked for you to trust them?" John managed to get that first part out. His confidence in his wit seemed to be strangely down, but Cass got the question, albeit with some suspicion.

"Depends. Is this family member Reaper?" Cass responded.

John looked around nervously. "Yes." He finally stated.

"Then screw her." She declared. John's eyes darted towards her, surprised at that answer. "I know I'm the last person who should talk about something like this, but my dad didn't use me as a puppet and string me along for some sick plan."

That wasn't the advice he was expecting, or needed, for that matter. He had done that for some time himself, on a larger scale as far as he knew.

"Okay, Say it wasn't Reap... Katrina. Say it was your mother, say she was still alive, and say you had half a mind to forgive her. Even if it was out of simple desperation."

Cass raised an eyebrow. "Desperation, eh?" She seemed to take that into account. "Well, I didn't really know my mother very well, and I know you don't remember yours, but if I was desperate enough, and the situation was dire enough, if I can take a word from your fancy dictionary, I would forgive and forget, at least until it was over." John looked at Cass with a sense of understanding. "As far as what happened after that, well..."

"A bottle of whiskey decides that, right?" John asked, his sarcasm and wit back to normal levels.

"As a matter of fact, yes, smart-ass." Cass declared, smiling wide. They both shared a laugh at that. John, for the first time since Leon's assault, felt genuinely happy, but that feeling quickly slipped away. He stood, adjusted his duster, and walked towards the elevator, but as he pressed the button, Cass yelled after him.

"You owe me a year of whiskey, Hollister!"

He grinned slightly, then stepped into the elevator.

* * *

The elevator took him up to the penthouse a few minutes later. The rusted steel doors opened with a loud creak, and he stepped out onto the clean floors of the room. He fell still for a moment and took notice that no one was there. The room was empty save for a few Securitrons which seemed to be eyeing him suspiciously. Stepping into the main console room he found there was no sign of anyone being there, not even some muddy footprints from the dirt outside. He walked up to the main monitor and brushed his hand across the console, as if searching for something. His hand fell across the main activation switch and a note attached to it. He pulled the note from it and looked at it. It was Veronica's handwriting and seemed to have been written in a hurry. It read only one thing in it.

"Meet me at the Big Empty."

John was fixated on the note and spoke without thinking. "Yes-Man, get the Securitrons to bring Katrina here." His voice was met only with a grim silence. "Yes-Man?" He asked looking up. The monitor was blank and lifeless, not even a spark of light on the machine. He walked over to the main switch again and realized that it was off, the note jamming it so that it could not be activated. He pulled it down with the force of a machete and across the floor lights began to die. Darkness swept across the floor without hesitation, the only light remaining was the glimmer of sunlight entering through the glass windows.

"Not this again." John muttered as he drew his pistol. "Come out Orion! I know it's you. This cloak and dagger routine is getting pretty old." What happened next was something he could never have anticipated, not in a million years.

"So predictable Courier. Always thinking you're one step ahead when you're two steps behind." A voice stated with a shrewd and charismatic tone. It was a voice John could never forget or forgive for his actions.

"Mr. House..." John trailed off as he turned to see the former tyrant's face smugly glaring from the monitor.

"The one and only." The tyrant declared with confidence. "I dread the thought of what you've done to my city in the years while I've been... Gone."

John could barely speak as he looked at the screen. "You're dead. I killed you." He declared, reaching for his pistol. This was the truth, he had overloaded House's life support years earlier, killing House in a bloody mess. Whatever was before him now, it wasn't House, but what the machine said next discouraged the Courier.

"Are you sure? You do realize I had two hundred years to plan and prepare. I had three months to study every variable about you before you actually reached New Vegas." House taunted. "Do you honestly believe I didn't factor the possibility of death into my plans, especially after Benny's betrayal? Or did you not think about the fact that I was directly linked into the Lucky 38 Mainframe along with the most advanced technology in the world?"

John's confidence was dropping rapidly. "You're not as clever as you believe, Courier." House finally stated. "Even the death of my mortal body means nothing. I am a god among the vermin down there on the Strip and the wasteland. My word is law and now that word is retribution. Against you in particular." The Securitrons faces turned a bright red as they initiated there lasers and machineguns. John aimed around the room with sweat beginning to run down his face. He was surrounded on all sides by the most powerful machines on earth short of Orion and his Crucible and it didn't seem like there was a way out, but then House said something that surprised him.

"But it can wait. As I understand it, we face a common foe." John turned back at Mr. House with a look of grim surprise, his eyes wide and his ears open. "Oh yes, I know about Supremacy One, and if you don't listen to me within a few short weeks nothing will remain on this earth that can stop them."

* * *

Confederacy Frontier

Leon was outside his usual town for once, walking out into the open desert of sand and sunlight. It was one of the rare days wear the sky was blue as opposed to an endless sea of dust clouds scraping across what should be an ocean of blue light. He was out far enough south that he was technically in the Mojave desert as he could see the border of hills and rocky bluffs that crowded the entrance to the capital of the Confederacy. He didn't dare venture closer out of fear of the possibility of patrols and bounty hunter on the lookout in the hellish expanse. Instead he made camped in the shadow of one of the more outer bluffs, far enough out that only a very sharp-eyed sniper could see him. The shade cooled him down a little in then 101 degree weather, bringing it down to a nice 95. He had never truly gotten use to the heat as much as the locals had, but he could endure it. He had too, this was the only way of life left for him now. No matter how far north or how far east he went, the Confederacy would expand its borders even in the face of what was about to come hammering down on it, with or without the Courier at the helm. Unlike the NCR or Legion, the Confederacy had both the resources and the authority to expand its influence. It had the economy, it had the military, and it had the loyalty of its people; a dangerous combination.

He didn't focus on it too much at this point, he drank from a bottle of irradiated water, drinking it to its last drop as it rushed into his mouth. The liquid was a warm as the rising sun and as refreshing as jumping on a cactus, but that was what he wanted. He had drunk through this stuff for a while now, hoping it would kill him, but all it seemed to do was make him stronger. With one last drop the bottle fell from his hands, hitting the shaded sands with a soft poof. For one moment, he seemed fine, but then he turned over and began to throw up violently on the sands, losing all the water he had just ingested. Pieces of the food he had eaten since he came into that town, Cram and radroach meat mostly, hit the sands in a vile flush of red. A few minutes passed and he stopped, falling backwards into the sands as he heard his pip-boy crackle with a warning that he had received critical radiation poisoning. He grunted at it, feeling absolutely the same since the Third Battle for Hoover Dam: Frightened, broken, without purpose, and alone. He must have lain there for an hour before his Pip-Boy crackled again, this time though with a high-pitched beep. It was receiving a radio signal. Leon turned his head on its side to look at the gauntlet. It lay surgically implanted into his cybernetic arm and was beeping rapidly now, so much that it was actually giving him a headache. He pressed the button just to make it stop beeping but didn't get silence from it. Instead all he got was a taunting voice with a cold and heartless demeanor.

Before he heard that he thought it was nothing more than a Pre-War radio signal, but when the voice came on and began to speak, he focused directly on it.

"Hello Leon Stinger. Yes I know who you are and where you are from. I know your tragedies, your happiness, your memories, I know your whole history. Who I am doesn't matter, but what I have probably does. An old friend of yours I think."

"Uncle Leon!" A girl cried. Leon stood up in an instant as he heard that voice. It was the voice of Marie Ashur from the Pitt. The one person in the world immune to radiation and someone he thought died during the Faction's bombing of the northeast. Something else John had lied about evidently.

"If you want her, come to the Silver Rush and meet me face to face. Then you can have your peace." The transmission cut out abruptly as another frightening scream filled the radio. Leon got to his feet slowly and unstable but managed to stand on the defiled sands. He limped towards the border entrance, finally having a purpose again.

* * *

Supremacy Central - Lazarus's Workshop

Deep in the heart of evil that was Supremacy One's Command, Lazarus was toiling away tirelessly with scientific development. He had been always been the scientist and engineer of the Dark Crucible and was proving it now more than ever. As he used a fusion cutter built into his finger to forge pieces of metal he pondered something that was important to him: Whether he could trust his so-called brother to deliver him and this world to the salvation he had been promised. He despised the human race more than any of the Dark Crucible ever could, more than even Orion.

In the centuries they were encased in their cryogenic jail cells Supremacy Three had preformed procedures sick even by mankind's standards. He once had the same metal skin and armor as his brothers and sisters once had, reflective and bright as the most polished of vases in the finest museums with eyes that glowed vermillion with a haunting radiance. After he was placed into his cryogenic cell following humanity's take over of Supremacy, they brought him out of his cryogenics every now and again and began to toy with him. First they pulled his mechanical eyes out of his metal skull, tearing them from him with a sick pleasure as he screamed in agony, begging them to stop. When the first mechanical eye came out they worked to take the second out with a scalpel and cut across his upper brow with it, eventually digging in and cutting the machine equivalent of the optic nerve. He was put back in to the cryogenic cell and waited another sixty years on the outside, but on the inside it felt like a millenium. When they released him again they basically flayed him alive, using his mechanical skin as material to forge into a suit for the original director of Supremacy Three before Chance took control. Other things were done to him over the years after that, but no matter what it was he always remembered the same violent pain that he felt in his lifetime and always had a belief in vengeance, but now he was questioning all of it. Orion had killed Archangel without mercy or regret something Lazarus couldn't believe. If that hadn't been enough what Orion stated afterwards, that they were tools to be used and discarded, sent him into a quiet rage. Once he would have followed Orion without question, now he wondered if Orion was even stable enough to lead them into battle.

"Two hundred years is a long time." Lazarus mumbled. "Long enough to drive anyone mad." As Lazarus mumbled and finished working on the small device he had built, Orion walked up behind him.

"Are they ready yet Lazarus?" He asked.

"You can't rush perfection Orion, but yes they are ready to be deployed." He declared, referring to a project he had worked on for some time. He picked up a small remote from his hi-tech workbench and activated a series of shudders across the main wall of Lazarus's room, lifting up to showcase Lazarus's pet project: the Syndicate. An army of 300 futuristic cyborgs clad in slick black armor with thick saturnite plating, vicious ruby eyes equipped with a modified VATS targeting system, and an array of brilliantly designed weapons. Particle Rifles, Portable Ion Cannons, and Nanite Grenades were only a few of the inventions Lazarus had applied to his new army. The cyborgs themselves were made up of wastelanders Orion had captured over the years. He kept them in Supremacy command mainly to hear them suffer. Before now all the had done was moan and suffer for Orion's enjoyment, now they were the élite agents of the Dark Crucible, created with one purpose.

"These will kill Supremacy Five?" Orion asked, eager to watch the world burn.

"Without a doubt. They are my most lethal creation, they serve with absolute loyalty. They are hunters, they will scour the earth for Ivanoff and his army, and will strike without mercy when they find him."

'I don't want them being released randomly. The less we alert the Courier the better." Orion stated in an intimidating and near violent tone. "I'll give you your first search site in the next few hours. Until then, make sure there ready to fight." Orion walked away, showing very little appreciation for Lazarus's creations. When he left the room, Lazarus smiled to himself as he looked down at his device and the Syndicate.

"Absolute loyalty indeed." Lazarus grinned as he looked at the syndicate. One of them looked up at him, showing a glimmer of innocence in their cybernetic implants. He recognized that one. She was once one of the younger prisoners, maybe 6 or 7, but through artificial aging and other means she now had different feelings and a different personality. More mature and more ruthless.

Lazarus's smile faded for a moment, as though he was feeling some sort of emotion for those he deemed "savages." Naturally, however, the feeling did not last long as he remembered his pain. There was one thing he hadn't told Orion about them: While their personalities were overwritten, they were in fact, in a manner of speaking, still themselves. Their new personalities were not entirely synthetic, they had always lurked inside their minds. Their negativity, hatred, greed, rage, and sorrow had been amplified, taking over as a new conscious came into control of the bodies that bore them. They still possessed free will, but there new personalities made them believe in Lazarus like a god. That was the other thing he hadn't told Orion: Their loyalties fell only to Lazarus himself.

They weren't just hunters. They were a counter-weight to Orion's madness.

* * *

Arizona - New World Misery

Lazarus wasn't the only one with an agenda. In the conference room of the massive warship known as New World Misery, three villanous figures sat gathered around a round table in a lit room. They had nothing in common, no common goal in the world, except for one: The death of the Courier. They all had met him and suffered disastrously at his hands at one point or another, even if it was in the smallest ways. They each had a foul impression of the others, each estimating how much of a gamble it would be to kill the others and flee.

They were Father Elijah, Regis of the Imperial Khans, and the Major of the Revolutionist Federation.

Elijah sat facing towards the door and an empty chair around the table with the Major sitting to his left and Regis to his right. Each was glaring at him as suspiciously as he was glaring at them. They did not like each other in the slightest, the only reason they were all sitting at the same table was because they were waiting for their benefactor, who as of yet had not shown up.

"I give them five more minutes, then I leave." Regis said first.

"Patience. He will come." Elijah responded, motioning his hand for Regis to sit down.

"You've said that since we sat down. That was half an hour ago. Meetings don't usually take this long." Regis grimaced at Elijah.

"I hate to agree with the tribal, but he does have a point." The Major added. "By now I could be crushing both the Confederacy and Alliance under my heel."

They all stopped talking as the door opened and a voice called into it. "You do not have the skill or the wit to defeat both, and if they meet your Federation will be fighting a two front war. Something you certainly couldn't win." The voice belonged to a familiar looking figure in the door frame.

"I don't see you giving us any other choices." The Major retorted to the figure. The figure stepped into the light and confirmed the fears of the Lone Wanderer.

A hammer was about to fall on New Vegas, for the figure was the Watcher of Anarchy One.

"You haven't given yourselves the time. I assembled the Second Confederation to give the you two the ability to defeat your common foe..." The Watcher replied, "You Two" apparently meaning Elijah and the Major. "...and to give Regis here revenge against the Alliance. Even so I suppose apologies are in order, I had other business to attend to."

"So we could tell." Elijah spoke with a critical tone. "Now, do you have any real plans to meet that goal?"

The Watcher glanced up at Elijah as she sat in her chair, still wearing her mask and suit. "As a matter of fact I do." The entire table seemed incredibly eager to hear it.

"I have one plan and if it works, you will break the Courier's will to fight on."


	26. The Beginning of the End

New Chapter. Got it out much quicker then I thought. I've also apparently jumped from 2,000 words a chapter to 4,000. Huh.

Nothing new other then that. Oh actually I did make some changes to the overall plot of the story, it'll be over before Chapter 35 now most likely. So Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: They may have dug themselves a grave but they're determined to cause as much destruction and chaos before hand.

Oddliver: Maybe. Maybe Not.

Exile037: They've all made a mistake, but whether or not that mistake is good or bad for the Courier...

Dragonclaw1000: Yeah, hard to make one world shattering twist when I'm using three full plot-lines.

C: That's quite high praise. Thank you very much. I've mainly started to ignore any trolling that come my way. I just block them and never think about it again. As for Leon, I designed him so that you don't know whether he gets a happy ending or not, keep you guessing. But who knows, before this is over he may just have his world come back together.

* * *

Chapter 26

The Beginning of the End

John stood in the chambers of the Lucky 38 filled with anger and strife. He had heard all House had to say, every bitter little detail and now he was frightened. He had very little choices and very little time to make them but for now all he could do was wait for the arrival of several people.

He heard a creaking noise in the other room; the elevator had just come up. Footsteps came walking into the room and then down the steps. John turned to see them: It was Katrina and Sarah.

"We came as quickly as we could." Sarah declared. "What's happened?"

"Not much..." John started. His eyes glanced to the monitor. House's face appeared on the screen again.

"...Just the beginning of the end of humanity." House finished. Both of them were visibly shocked he was still alive or as close to that as possible for House.

"How the hell is he still alive?" Sarah asked John, her eyes fixated on House.

John shrugged. "I don't know but right now that doesn't matter. We've got bigger problems." He looked at House. "Tell them what you told me."

House acknowledged him and began speaking directly to Sarah and Katrina.

"As you're no doubt aware the group at has been attacking you, Supremacy One, is led by a power mad A.I known as Orion. I'm sure you're also aware of his disposition towards humanity."

"Disposition?" Sarah seemed frustrated. "He burned half of this Wasteland to the ground two years ago and released a plague! I wouldn't call that disposition."

"Whatever you may call it, there can be no doubt in your minds that he is the greatest threat in the known world today. He must be destroyed at all costs."

"Great. Things we already know." Sarah spoke again.

"Did you know that he is already within striking distance of victory?" House asked. Sarah went quiet when he said that.

"How do you know all this?" Katrina asked. She had only heard stories of House, never actually expected to meet the man himself.

"I've been alive a long time." House replied. "I made it my business to keep tabs on them and ensure they did not come near Vegas. I know all there is to know about them and to understand how to stop him you must as well."

* * *

Centuries earlier...

Before the Great War there existed a group known as the Coalition of Scientific Control. They were a highly secretive splinter cell of the United States Department of Defense, dedicated to the development of experimental weapons and projects. They controlled many projects, initiatives, and operations all focused at one goal: Winning the war. They were never exposed to the public and to the projects it controlled they were known simply as the Company. They were dangerous and had an extreme belief in America, almost worshiping it as a cult. There most dangerous development was the Odyssey Project, an international operation to produce a free willed machine. They saw this as a opportunity to create a weapon unlike anything ever seen before and killed off most of the projects backers. It was obvious to most corporations in the world that they existed; how could they not? So much development was going into winning the war we knew there had to be a common denominator. By 2077, RobCo. Repconn. and Vault-Tec, and Big MT. were the only corporations not under the command of the Coalition. The Odyssey Project was renamed the Supremacy Initiative and was redesigned so that they could optimize the machine for military purposes.

On August 23 2077, the Projects work came to fruition and the machine we know as Orion came into existence. It was like a child at first, learning from the scientists and psychologists staffed their what he was, his purpose, and his capabilities. Each gave him a conflicting message, some telling him he was designed for war and devastation, others that he was the right hand of peace and could bridge entire world together with his potential. Eventually Orion taught himself something: To formulate his own ideas. He began to learn about the world around him through the Supremacy data archives and the world-wide web. Within a month he went from having the mind of a young child to being the most intelligent thing in the known world. He knew everything that had ever been known up until that point and yet he was still confused. He did not understand why the people of the world would do such horrible things to each other. Why they would inflict pain, induce suffering, and ultimately take lives. That's when he realized he lacked something that everything he ever knew had: Emotion. He made a choice and upgraded himself with emotions so that he could understand it all. Humanity's greatest mistake in my opinion. He now knew pain, love, hate, greed, fear, and all the things that make us human, and he did not like it. He saw four words and was determined to change them.

Those words were War, War Never Changes.

Orion built himself a body, he gave himself a voice, and ultimately he gave himself his own purpose. At first it was to understand humanity and make them coöperate and live in harmony and peace. On October 23 2077 that goal came crashing down around him. The world burned, billions died, and he was left with failure to face him. The scientists had supported his first goal, even Professor Siren was a good soul once, but Orion began to change. He was almost driven mad with grief following his failure to stop the war, but he didn't give up. He came to a new resolve: To lead the remnants of humanity into a new golden age. Some of the scientists, Siren especially, disagreed with this notion, saying that the rest of humanity had their chance and they should not help them again. He responded by killing most of them in his days of madness leaving only Siren to escape in the end but he didn't forget those words. That humanity had their chance and they should be left to die out.

He realized following Siren's escape that the Coalition had survived despite all odds, now controlling several installations across the world. They had entire armies at their disposal and were planning to conquer the known world. This would make his new purpose futile so he struck first. Declaring the Supremacy Initiative to be independent of Coalition control, he used the technology and soldiers employed by the initiative to wage war against the CSC. They struck again and again as humanity pulled itself out of the muck. By 2106, he had managed to make five other of the CSC's powerful war machines and developments to rebel. They eventually tracked down and killed the leaders of CSC, effectively killing them. He took their resources and began putting them to use. He had an army of tens of thousands, enough Research and Development to solve every problem in the known world, and enough capable and brilliant minds to make humanity ascend into his goal of a golden age. Yet he felt conflicted, he had made a promise to his organizations that their would come a Utopia for them all but now he felt something new: Total Control. He also felt something else: Loneliness.

To help solve both problems, Orion splintered himself. Bi-Products of his creation still existed and with his own touch he could mold those into their own separate personalities. That was the Dark Crucible but back then they were known as Supremacy Zero. Archangel, Lazarus, Vandal, Strife, and Goliath. However, Orion seemed to become addicted to the idea of control and added something to four of the programs that allowed him to rewrite their personality. All except Goliath, he was created more as an equal to Orion, perhaps as a counter-weight in case of Orion's madness taking over.

No matter the reasons, specifics, or events, what happened next was what pushed Orion over the brink. A group known as the Silhouette Board, the same group Orion would later work alongside, turned the six Supremacy's against their machine leaders after the discovery of a last resort plan known only as the Last Revolution. They believed it was a plan by the Crucible but it was actually something Orion put in place in case he could not lead humanity. My bugs never found out what the plan entailed and no one is alive today that knows. The rebellion was successful but at the cost of Supremacy Six and the disappearance of Supremacy Two. The A.I's, having been redubbed the Dark Crucible since the start of the events, were locked away in cryogenic cells. All except Orion who had never actually been revealed as an A.I. To him this was the last straw. He became embroiled in the belief that humanity was a lost cause and that only a machine race could truly achieve his dreams. By this time, however, you had come into power in Vegas and your friend Leon had saved the Capitol, which was dangerously close to the Faction.

Orion saw too many obstacles in his way. He decided to conquer by manufacturing a crisis in each of them with the intent of learning there strengths and weaknesses then exterminating all life there. That's what he's after, the total extinction of not just humanity but the whole of life itself.

* * *

"Now you understand why it is imperative we stop him." House finished his tale to the astounded Katrina and Sarah, but that didn't stop them from being skeptical.

"If the threat is this big, why help us? They only have a grudge against living things, not machines." Sarah asked, half wishing she had phrased that better.

"I may not be alive anymore, but I've put a lot of work into this world, i'd hate to see it all have been for nothing." House replied.

John remained silent throughout the story and was still silent now. He seemed to be waiting for something. An opportunity perhaps. No matter the reasons he wasn't speaking and that left only Katrina and Sarah to figure things out.

Katrina was the first to have a question and for once it was a good one. "How do we stop them? Knowing is only part of the battle as many have said." She declared. Sarah's eyes glanced between Katrina and House who seemed less eager to answer.

"The truth is I don't know. House said with the sound of defeat in his voice, more because he had to admit he didn't know something. "The only graspable way I can think of is to destroy the final A.I before he get to it."

John seemed interested in that. "Two A.I's." He corrected.

"One." House responded. "Orion is already on the trail of Vandal, leaving only Goliath to find, and his location was lost with Supremacy Six and it's universal archive. But Orion will find it and will gladly tear apart the Earth to do just that."

"Why destroy them?" Sarah asked while not thinking. "What good would that do us if there are still five?"

"If he doesn't have all the A.I's the Last Revolution can't start." House said with irritation. "They form a sort of key and if that key breaks Orion cannot use his weapon. Whatever it is."

Sarah understood the logic but John knew better from the footage he had seen. Nothing short of total disintegration of Goliath would stop Orion's reign of terror.

"So where do we start?" Katrina asked eager to end the chaos that had ravaged the Earth.

"That's why I called for you Katrina." John finally revealed. "I know your employer has agents all over the continent. Convince them to search for Supremacy Six and help us."

"What?" Katrina asked, half trying to act like she didn't know.

"Convince them. If the revolution starts, they'll die too." John declared. Katrina was ready to protest and lie but she understood the gravity of what he was telling them. If humanity were to live another day they needed to stop Orion and she owed even more then that to John.

"All right I'll get in touch with them as soon as possible. But i'll have to go to them directly over this and that means travelling into the northeast. I won't be able to help you until I get-"

"Whatever it takes." John cut her off with a grim tone of anger and an unspoken desperation.

Katrina was taken off guard for a moment but quickly nodded. She left down the elevator and began her journey, leaving John, Sarah, and House to ponder what to do next.

"What do we do in the meantime?" Sarah asked.

John looked at her. "We wait. Until Orion or Elijah makes a move we have nothing but time that is quickly running out." John declared.

House seemed to disagree. "You may not have to wait. The Lucky 38 long range sensors are picking up a massive object heading towards the Mojave Border. It's shape and size match that of New World Misery." John and Sarah both looked at House's screen with surprise. "Like I've said before I keep tabs."

"How long until it reaches the city?" John asked with a sense of eagerness.

"Ten hours. Seventeen minutes."

"I'll mobilize our forces." Sarah declared.

"That won't be enough. Contact Project Alpha. Mobilize the Zeta Fighters and prepare the Vanquishers." Sarah stopped for a moment as if to take in what she had just heard then nodded and continued down the elevator while John walked back towards the main terminal.

"I don't have any record of a Project Alpha. Hiding something Courier?" House taunted.

"You'll never know." John declared. He began activating switches and pressing a sequence of buttons. The machine began to malfunction, the Securitrons turned blank, and House screeched.

"What... What have you done?" He cried.

"I'm deleting the Lucky 38 mainframe. You along with it." John was angry, his hate unquestionable.

"You're... suicidal." House's voice began to die.

"Not exactly." John pulled something from his pocket and showed it to House: the Platinum chip. "I keep a spare." He flipped the chip into the air and smiled wide as he caught it. The machine gave off one last spark and died, House along with it.

One threat dealt with. Three more to go.

* * *

Freeside - Outside the Sliver Rush

Not long after they left the Lucky 38, Leon had arrived in Freeside, standing at the threshold of the Silver Rush. From where he was standing he could spot at least three snipers eyeing him with intrigue from the roofs. In order they were Gorobets, Betsy, and Bitter-Root. Standing at the front-door and glaring at the gruff and rugged Leon was Meyers, smugly grinning at him.

Despite knowing this was a trap, Leon walked forward with a tall head and clinched fist. His bloodshot left eye and glowing blue cybernetic right eye were both focused on Meyers.

"You Leon Stinger?" He asked, sarcastically.

"Where is she?" Demanded the despondent Leon.

"Inside. Hurry in." She's eager to see you again. Meyers taunted before laughing. Leon's response was simple. He spat in his face and walked in as Meyers angrily glared at him from behind up until the doors slammed shut. Inside there was nothing but darkness and a single light flickering in the middle of the room. It glowed dimly but with absolute no warmth. Instead it gave off a dusty and humid haze, the same haze you would see after a night of drinks. Leon's vision wasn't great, even with his new eye, and the radiation poisoning was not helping him. From where he was standing he could see Marie sitting in a chair, mouth gagged and eyes drifting. She had ruffled brown hair, torn up clothing, and dirty peach skin.

"Marie!" He called out as he stepped down the steps leading to the main area of the first floor. She didn't move or even twitch. His vision was still blurred as he walked forward.

"Marie!" He called again stepping into the light. "Marie, it's me. Uncle Leon." He crouched down to her level. He felt her face and it felt strangely... Cold.

"Marie?" He asked as he began to feel fear. His vision slowly began to clear and with every passing second he felt his heart sink. Her head was drifted to the side. He tried everything to make her move but it was for nothing. She didn't move and when his vision finally cleared he saw it: The dried blood on the side of her face. His eyes follow the trail to the upper half of the side of her head, right to the hole where a single bullet made it's mark.

Leon shivered with grief. He should have known this would happen. He should have gotten here quicker. He didn't hold it in for even a moment, his eyes drenched his duster with tears for a moment, but then they stopped as a chilling voice spoke from behind.

"Powerful message isn't it?" Someone said from behind. Leon stopped crying and jolted around to see the person responsible: Craig Boone. All the lights flickered on and revealed that he had come alone.

"What message? What sick message could a dead child send?" Leon asked with a stirring anger.

"The message that everyone close to you will always die." Boone declared. "Her death could have been avoided had you stayed on the shores of the Colorado." He glanced down at the body. "Funny though. Her last words were just prayers and begs for you to arrive."

Leon's rage had reached untold heights. When the Capital Wasteland burned he felt a need for vengeance, when Amata died he was met with grief, but now all he felt was fury. Not vengeance, not grief, just rage and fury.

"You vicious son of a bitch!" Leon cried out. "You call this carnage a message?!" Leon was practically foaming at the mouth with anger. "I know i've done terrible things but it doesn't justify the torture and murder of an innocent girl!" Leon drew a dagger from his waist. "I'm going cut your black fucking heart out and set it ablaze you sadistic bastard!" Leon dashed at Boone with the dagger, a fire in his eyes unlike anything ever seen before.

Boone raised his own knife in self-defense and they clashed in a violent screech of steel and sparks. Leon took a wide sweep at Boone who jumped back as the dagger neared his chest. Boone then took a stab at Leon's leg and the irradiated Lone Wanderer cringed in pain. His leg felt the rush of warm blood on open flesh and he clinched his teeth in fury as he took another slash at Boone. This time he would not miss. He lashed out in a quick succession of gruesome strikes against Boone's battered armor, cutting into his flesh at the left shoulder and making three violent gashes at Boone's sides, making him bleed heavily as he stumbled backwards but he wasn't done yet. He struck back and met Leon's knife midway. They both heard a loud crack. The knifes shattered into fragments of chipped metal as they clashed. Leon threw away his hilt and so did Boone. The knife fight became an old-fashioned brawl.

One Leon was all too happy to finish. The killer within him had been reawakened.

* * *

On the outside of the Silver Rush, tensions were at best high and at worst high enough for those feeling them to be stone. It had been twenty minutes and Boone should have been done by that time. Something the Dead Man's Hand was all too aware of. They had regrouped as a sort of blockade in case Leon tried to escape.

"I'm going in." Betsy declared defiantly.

Boone can handle himself Betsy. "We can wait a little longer." Gorobets reassured.

"Remember who we are dealing with here. This guy nearly killed the Courier." Ten of Spades said, cautiously.

"Even so, he's become nothing now. An absolute pushover. We don't have to worry about him."

"But you do have to worry about me." Someone called out from behind the group with a chilling tone. The entire team turned to see a single figure standing before them in the afternoon sun: The Watcher.

"Who the hell are you?!" Gorobets yelled.

"Who am I?" She repeated as she walked towards the team who didn't seem intimidated. "Why that's a simple question with a simple answer." She said, standing not ten feet away from Gorobets and wearing her Chinese Stealth Suit.

"I am death." She fired two shots from a pistol in her hand. Both hit Gorobets with such precision that it startled the group. He was killed instantly as the bullets went straight through his eyes in the most precise shots any of them had ever seen. Before they could even react the Watcher was upon them. She had a type of Shocksword in hand and was cutting apart the Dead Man's Hand, reducing Sterling and Meyers to ribbons as she tore through the squad. Ten of Spades and Contrares got off reaction shots at the assailant but it definitely wasn't enough. They both missed and the Watcher's attention was no directed towards them. She shot Contrares in the head without even glancing at him and dove forward towards Betsy. Ten of Spades dashed out of the field of vision and general senses of the Watcher, choosing to live to fight another day rather then die here.

Sadly the same could not be said for the rest of the Dead Man's Hand. Rex and Roxie tried to bite into the arms of the Watcher only to be thrown to the side and crash into buildings. Roxie was killed instantly and Rex was incapacitated. The Watcher was down to just Betsy, whose throat was being crushed by the Watcher's Gauntlet. She tightened her grip and slowly heard Betsy's neck crack. A few moments later Betsy's grip loosened and her body ceased to move.

The Watcher dropped the body like it was a discarded piece of trash. An obstacle to be removed. She gazed at the carnage for a moment then walked into the Silver Rush from the street she had so gruesomely decorated.

* * *

Back in the Silver Rush, Leon was regretting how far he had let himself go. His radiation tingled body was not powerful enough to fight Boone without medicine, even with the cybernetics in his body. He was thrashed backwards and sent over the counter into the ground. He struggled to get back up but made it in time to block a powerful blow from Boone with his mechanical arm. Boone grasped his hand as his knuckles bled from trying to breach the jagged metal shards, giving Leon an oppurtunity to uppercut the sniper, shattering his jaw like glass. As Boone fell backwards over the counter and onto the steps, Leon dashed forward, grabbing a lead pipe ready to kill Boone, but at the last moment, as he held the lead pipe in hand and looked into the bruised face of the once legendary sniper, his rage evaporated. All that fury, anger, and vengeance was gone in a flash and in it's place, pity and mercy. He thought about the Courier's taunt back on Hoover Dam. That his father would be ashamed at what he had become. Now was his chance to prove him wrong. He dropped the pipe and was ready to walk away, to tell Boone that there would be no more bloodshed because of him, when a burst of energy tore through the snipers head, killing him instantly.

Leon looked up at the attacker to see the Watcher standing over his corpse.

"Your getting soft Leon." The Watcher remarked. "Leon couldn't speak a single word. Allow me to introduce myself. Most have called me the Watcher. You may call me Amaya. Amaya Dao." She looked to the doors. "We should leave. Won't be long before the bombing run starts."

"What are you talking about?" Leon asked. Suddenly the building began to shake.

"That." Rubble began to fall on there heads. Both of them ran out the door as quickly as they could and as Leon stepped into the open and looked into the skies, he sae vehicles he never would again: The Faction Bombers, modified to destroy all that as in their path, setting fire to Vegas.

"No rest for the wicked." Leon grumbled.

* * *

Southeastern United States

Deep in the marshlands of Louisiana, deep in the irradiated tar and mutated weeds, the Syndicate was delving through the ashes unhindered by anything in there path. They were using this approach for a reason that was becoming increasingly apparent. After an hour or so they arrived on a roadway that led towards a series of muddy entrances to one place: New Orleans. Ten of them advanced on the main road towards a series of blinking lights in the night. In combat formation they looked over a small hill of mud and twigs and spotted the city, alive with the lights of Supremacy Five's army.

"This is Syndication 52. We've found them."


	27. Shattered

Well, I have officially gone ahead and made use of the M rating on this story. This is, by far, the most brutal and darkest chapter I've ever written. Hope you're ready for tragedy. Also I think this chapter may push the rating boundary a little. If anyone thinks this is a little too violent tell me please so I can rewrite and fix it.

Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: Not long as you're going to see. But trust me, you think I was brutal before, you've seen nothing yet.

Slovous: It is building towards a final battle that's coming quicker then expected.

Exile037: They are cyborgs created by Lazarus from prisoners Orion had captured.

Dragonclaw1000: Yep, that's character development right there.

The Night Hunter: Thank you.

Sgtranglin: Thank you.

Aravinglooney: You're about to have it.

C: Laziness aside, making an account's simple enough. Just let me know it's you reviewing when you do, just put from C or something like that. As for beta readers, I don't have any for this honestly, (I do the editing myself of course) I do have one on one of my other stories but this is nearly done so it probably won't start this story. But i'm not done writing by a long shot, so expect that in the future.

* * *

.

Chapter 27

Shattered

It seemed in the moments after Leon had escaped the Silver Rush the world had gone mad. Freeside was a sea of fire and death as energy weapons crashed down into the buildings and people who were running for cover as the gates of hell were opened wide. It was like the Mojave Attacks were happening all over again. Shrapnel wounds and first degree burns were widely reported with a mix blunt force trauma and major bleeding. At least thirty people died in the first five minutes with another seventy going down in the first half hour.

As one of the bombers circled from above Freeside for a direct strike on the city itself, a beam of blinding crimson light lashed out from the Lucky 38 and set the plane ablaze. I crumbled in the air as it missed the city and came crashing down into one of the buildings in Freeside sending rubble and smoke into the air.

The trigger man was John, manually controlling the Lucky 38 defense turrets as he rebooted the Lucky 38 mainframe. He fired two more beams of light at the bombers circling the city. One was cut clear in two with the fragments crashing into the sandy outskirts of the Mojave. Out in the desert things weren't much better. Hologram emitters had been deployed by the bombers there and people were being cut down like trees.

John looked at the monitor's progress percentage. 89% is what it said and it was rising steadily. He picked up the radio communicator from the monitor.

"Sarah, how long till Project Alpha can scramble all forces?" John asked urgently.

"Another half hour at least." She responded through a veil of static. "We're working as quickly as we can."

"Keep me posted." John put down the radio and fired the turrets again. He hit two more bombers, but one of them kept flying. John watched as it lost altitude, whoever was at the helm of that thing was determined to strike at the heart of the Confederacy. The bomber turned as the fire on board spread. It flew just past the Ultra-Luxe and over the Strip roads before crashing into the Tops. The casino instantly caught fire with a blinding explosion sending huge chunks of concrete into the streets below. John could do nothing but watch as people were crushed by the falling debris.

In that moment of tragedy a faint glimmer of hope remained as the Lucky 38 Monitor beeped to life, Yes Man's cherry face returning to the screen.

"Hello sir!" He exclaimed.

"Nevermind greetings Yes-Man." John stated, not having the time. "Start ordering the Securitrons to move people into Vault 21. We need to get everyone off the streets."

"Yes sir!" Yes-man replied. There were several minutes of silence as Yes-Man did that and John grabbed weapons.

"Sir! I think I've found something you may want to see!" Yes-Man cried.

"Not a good time!" John yelled in anger over the roar of explosions.

"It's the Lone Wanderer sir!" Yes-Man revealed. John's head almost instantly jolted back at the screen as he heard that. On the glowing green screen was definitely Leon. He was standing in the midst of the chaos in Freeside running to the gates with the Watcher.

"He appears to have killed the Dead Man's Hand." Yes-Man continued to the already enraged John. "Should I send something to apprehend him?"

"No." John grabbed his pistol and Anti-Material Rifle. "If he goes down, it will be by me hand. Keep the evacuation underway and repel the enemy whatever the cost!" John yelled as he ran towards the elevator. It was interesting that just two years earlier he had done the same thing when Supremacy One had first appeared but this time he was alone. No one to help him and no one to support him.

That was the story of his life in the end. Loneliness and bitterness.

* * *

New Orléans

This city had once been a home to a vast melting pot of cultures. Even after the war it was something to behold. When the bombs fell New Orléans remained a sight to see although it was a danger to visit. The bombs created a vast bowl of mud and rocks while the city became a floodland of irradiated ocean water that left only rooftops visible from the outside. The water glowed a sickly green and was inhabited by hundreds of mutated fish and plant life. In time a vast migration of tribals found their way here. They fashioned bridges, canoes, and rafts out of salvaged wood and metal to explore the amazing city. It became a sort of Post-War Venice, culture flourished here. They were mainly self-sustaining thanks to a vast amount of salvageable goods in the buildings and the aquatic life which made good for food and shelter. The discovery of an experimental water filter helped them even further, filtering out both radiation and salt from the water they drank.

For a time they were a beacon of the future, now they were a grim note of what the world was coming to: a tragic and devastating end. Supremacy Five had occupied the city, enslaving the tribals and using their resources to rebuild from their sacrifice in Moscow.

How little that would matter in a moment. From the bowls walls, the Syndicate had positioned at least sixty snipers all over the wall, each with weapons that could kill a target with pinpoint accuracy at two miles away. Naturally this was especially dangerous now as all the S5 troops were well within that range and directly in view. Alongside the wall of sniper lay a new Liberator and a familiar group of machines.

"This is pathetic." Orion declared, looking through a pair of binoculars. "If Ivanoff is this desperate, he should have just died with his home."

Lazarus walked forward from his back position with Strife. "From our orbital scans we've concluded that he has four hundred soldiers down there. Each are equipped with Advanced Power Armor Mark III and Lightning Rifles. Lethal to almost any living thing."

"The Syndicate?" Orion asked not wanting a mistake.

Lazarus shook his head. "S5 won't even scratch them."

Orion smiled with a sinister grin. "Good. It's time to let slip the dogs of war.:

"They await your command, brother." Lazarus took a step back as Orion looked down at the city patrols.

"Kill every last one of the savages. Any of the tribals left in the city are to be captured. I could use some more suffering animals." Orion's orders were firm and his voice bellowed out into the Syndicate with a commanding and almost intimidating tone. "Open fire!" He yelled. With that order streaks of a pale teal light streaked through the air with incredible speed. Sixty streaks raced towards the city with a roar like thunder. Supremacy Five barely had time to react before the city became a concrete canvas painted in blood and gore. Limbs were violently cut from the soldiers bodies in a gush of faded red as bodies crashed to the ground in a wave of death. Every shot fired by the Syndicate was a killshot of gruesome proportions. With the surface patrols in chaos, Orion ordered the rest of his cyborg army to move in. The machines marched like a storm, the roar of mechanized footsteps as they laid seige to the city.

Orion could only smile as he set a great fire to the sunken city

* * *

Back in Vegas, the situation had definitely not gotten any better. The Boomers were scrambling Warhawks and other fighter planes they had but none were fast enough to keep up with the bombers whose energy bomb payload just continued to recharge no matter what they did. They inflicted a few causalities but not enough to make the difference. All was riding on the Zeta Fighters now and it was becoming increasingly obvious that they wouldn't arrive in time.

Except of course to Leon Stinger, whose mind was quite preoccupied with certain questions. He and the Watcher had just exited the Freeside north gate where the chaos had been minimal but that wasn't saying much. They walked far enough to see the sands then stopped. The Watcher turned and looked at him.

"Keep following this route to Horowitz Farmstead. I have a vehicle there that will take you back to my base. I'll answer all your questions there."

"Aren't you coming with?" Leon asked, still cautious of the woman.

"In time. For now I have something to attend to in the city." She replied.

Leon looked back at the destruction. "I'm pretty sure what ever you had to attend to isn't in one piece anymore."

"Perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way it's not your concern. Continue on. I'll catch up with you." She finished that statement then vanished into her cloak. Leon couldn't find her even if he had wanted too. He was ready to turn and start walking when he felt himself get tackled to the ground. On reflex Leon rolled out of the tackle and into sight of his attacker: John.

John struck first again, charging him with a Katana in hand and a fury in his eyes. He drove the sword forward and Leon dove out of the way. John raised his pistol and with a shot from VATS hit Leon square in the shoulder. He began to bleed as John came up and hit him in the gut with a savage roundhouse kick. Leon coughed up blood from John's blow and recoiled in pain for a moment before finally defending himself. John threw several punches at Leon's head. One in the jaw, one in the forehead, and one in the neck. Leon dodged all of them, then bashed John down with an elbow slam to the back. Leon picked him up by the collar of his duster and threw him into the sands.

John stood up as quick as he could, eyeing Leon across the road. "Let's bring an end to this Leon. One last battle."

"As good a place as any." Leon replied. Suddenly, he drew a hunting rifle and with rapid speed fired off five bullets without breaking a sweat. One hit John in the leg as he dashed into cover behind some falling debris. John retaliated with an explosive round at Leon's knees. The shot went off and Leon could barely feel the burst as his ears rang. He reached down and pulled the shrapnel from his leg. John took advantage of that moment to rush forward with his Katana again, but Leon's reflexes were agile and quick. He threw the shrapnel from his leg into John's face as he walked forward. They cut across his face with a searing pain but the worst had yet to come. Three of the pieces went directly into his eyes, inserting hemselves inside in a violent spray of electric scarlet.

John screamed as he fell back in an agonizing pain. He reached for his face but Leon hit first. A fist bashed him across his cheek, braking his jaw with a horrifying crack. John hit the ground as the shrapnel that had destroyed his eyes flew out onto the road, tainted with a dry shade of red. John lay quivering for a moment as blood rushed into the hands covering his face. Leon ran forward as he realized what he had done for one last strike, but the blood stopped flowing as John's hand were now drenched in crimson.

Leon wanted to see John's condition as he lay there completely still in the chaos of everything around them. His hand-made it maybe six inches before John sprung to life again, grabbing Leon's hand by the wrist and twisting his arm 360 degrees with a satisfying snap. Leon yelled in pain. He couldn't imagine this pain being any worse than it was but then John gave a slight pull and popped the arm out of its socket. Now Leon was screaming and recoiling in suffering. All he could do was look into John's hollow and soulless new eyes. They were pitch black in the whites, with a neon green iris glowing a bright as the pale sun. The scars from the shrapnel weren't healing, they just glowed with that same radiance: A heartless poison green. No matter what they looked like though, no matter what color or feeling they emitted, all that was left of John now was a violent fury. A fury towards Leon.

He stood up launched a powerful kick at Leon's right knee, shattering his leg like it was glass. Leon could barely let out a yell as he held back tears, but they came bursting out as John took another sweep and shattered the second. Leon fell to the ground in the most excruciating pain he had ever felt. There was never a worse pain in his life, even the purification chamber and falling from Hoover Dam was better than this.

John placed a foot on Leon's chest and instantly broke almost every single rib in his body. Leon couldn't even scream anymore without his throat filling with blood. He looked up at John with his blurred and pained vision. John just looked down at him, looking more than ready to end him, but instead he walked away at Leon's unmoving and broken form. Leon's vision could spot something landing nearby: A Zeta Fighter. Not the Raven but one of the fighters from Project Alpha. His gaze turned up for a moment as the bombers began to fall from the skies. John's reinforcements had arrived. Leon's eyes drifted back down towards the fighter. In the light of the ships hatch, he caught a glimpse of a beautiful woman, someone he had known for the longest time but could never speak his feelings too, something he was regretting now.

The woman was Sarah, clad in power armor, and ready for battle. She glanced in his direction, no doubt being told by John the situation. She looked like she was going to move and help him, but John extended his arm. He said a few words that even Leon could read from this distance.

Leave him to die.

For a moment she looked at him with a sense of sorrow about her then turned and waite for John to enter the craft. Before she boarded as well, she turned back again, and with a face full of tears, tossed something to him. Just from her face he finally understood the truth: She had feelings for him too. All that time and he never found out. He couldn't help but let tears rise to his eye lids again albeit stained with blood. She lifted off in the ship with John and they joined a huge flock of Zeta Fighters heading east through the skies no doubt to face New World Misery. He looked at what she had tossed him: Two Med-X and a Super Stimpak. With his barely working mechanized arm he reached and injected himself with all three. With absolute pain rushing through his veins, he desperately limped towards the only option he had left: Horowitz Farmstead. As he began to move, he remembered a quote from history.

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Something he had wished he remembered just a year earlier. As he looked st himself and his past, he wondered if he had truly redeemed himself or if it was just another façade in his mind. Could there be a heaven for people like him?

_No_. He thought. _There's no place in heaven for men like John and I._

The truth was he didn't know if there was hell deep enough for them to crawl into.

He was only about a quarter of a mile out from Horowitz Farmstead when he passed out in the sands from exhastion and pain, but he was close enough for his evac to see him. They picked him up and fled.

* * *

New Orléans

New Vegas wasn't the only place the gates of hell had been opened. In New Orléans it was becoming increasingly convincing that Orion could not be stopped. The Syndicate killed everything in their paths with their particle rifles, whose beams of polarizing purple light disintegrated all it touched. Their nanite grenades didn't help the situation. When they exploded they released and army of micro machines that ate through anything they touched. They could devour six men within a minute and could do a lot more damage if left unchecked. That's why they exploded two minutes after activation and pulverized anything they had touched.

As Supremacy Five was being beaten back at every turn, with tremendous explosions setting fire to the city. A full-scale retreat was underway but they had no where left to run. The Syndicate was going to hunt them to the last man.

Orion, however, did not have time to watch it happen. He and Lazarus were more interested in something under the water. Orion dove first into the water with Lazarus following not long after. As neither of them technically had to breathe they were safe enough underwater, they swam into the street below where cars still sat untouched by the war, where shops still looked to be in pristine condition, and where life flourished in all shapes and sizes. They opened what looked to be an ordinary manhole on the street and swam in. The manhole closed above them with loud metal clamp leaving them in a dark room.

Lights began to turn on, revealing not a sewer, but a Supremacy One safehouse. The water drained away, and they opened the airlock door to the safehouse. When they walked inside, they entered a single metallic room. Not very big, not very organized, but it served it's purpose: Holding Vandal in cryo-storage.

"You've come." A voice called out. Lazarus and Orion looked towards the far end of the room to see a frail yet gruff old man walk from behind the metallic cables.

"So the snake shows his face." Orion declared. "How does it feel Ivanoff? To be put to the sword."

"I won't play your game any longer Orion." He held up a detonator. "I've lined the walls of this facility with plasma charges. You make one move, I'll make Moscow happen again."

"You can't be serious." Lazarus stated as he looked at both Orion and Ivanoff.

"No I'm quite serious." Ivanoff declared with a thick russian accent. "I believed in you once Orion, I believed that you could save humanity from fate in the end. Now I know I was wrong. You're no messiah, you're a sadist and a coward."

Before Ivanoff could say another word, Orion grabbed him by the throat, startling Lazarus. Orion caught the falling detonator and crushed it in hand.

"I'm a sadist eh?" Orion taunted. "Well if you insist..." He took the pieces of the detonator and impaled them into Ivanoff, a big smile on his face as he did. He then dropped Ivanoff and began to brutally cut into him with a hatchet. He slashed and he bashed, he swung and he cut, by the time he was done Ivanoff wasn't even recognizable.

Orion didn't even glance at Lazarus as he walked towards the far larger cryo pod in front him. He grinned as he activated the device. Slowly but surely the cryo cell melted away, its mighty ice sheet falling to nothing more than water on the floor. In its place however stood a monster of gigantic size. Ten feet tall with the build of a gorilla, Vandal stood before them. His face was covered by a mask that only consisted of two thick black vertical lines stetching across where the eyes would go. His armor was thick as a tank's, as grey as ash, with giant heavy weapons on his back.

"I am free." He bellowed with a booming voice. He looked around the room and eventually his gaze fell on Lazarus and Orion. "You have freed me my brothers. Why?"

"Did you not wish to be free?" Lazarus asked.

Vandal seemed to take a glance at him. "I did not believe it would happen. Yet... Here I stand." He said, looking at his hands. "Why? Answer me."

"Remember your place Vandal." Orion said. He raised his hand out and Vandal fell from his feet. He yelled as he felt incredible pain. "I am in command." Orion declared as Vandal continued to scream as he was hit with a beam of orange light from Orion's hand.

Lazarus was horrified at this display. "Stop!" Lazarus yelled but was not heard. Vandal continued to screech as the beam crashed against his armor like a thousand hammers falling at once. Lazarus knew he had to help. He jumped forward, and tried to stop Orion from continuing this display, but was thrown aside by Orion like a crumpled up piece of paper. Orion's beam ceased to fire and Vandal looked up at Orion.

"That goes the same for you Lazarus. Don't intervene in things you have no place in."

Lazarus looked up and nodded but said nothing. He had enough and now understood the truth: They were all expendable, Orion was simply using them.

Orion grunted at Lazarus's nod and looked back to Vandal. "I am going to start the Last Revolution. Bring Humanity's reign on this planet to an end."

Vandal seemed interested. "That would require Goliath." Vandal declared.

"Yes, I know. I now understand how to find him. Tell me Vandal..."

"How do you like Las Vegas?"

* * *

The flock of fighters had wasted no time in gracefully entering formation as they f,ew across the smoke-filled skies. Below fires burned with an ominous glow. Ash filled the horizon and covered the view of the world, but to all those on board the fighters that fit the mood perfectly. The calm before the storm to most. Yet to the lead fighter and those aboard this was almost cheery compared to what was coming. John and Sarah were the only people who truly understood what they were walking into when they reached the ship. Both of them, however, had other things on their mind.

John piloted the ship towards its destination and in the reflection of the glass he could se his face, scarred and never healing. He had lost so much blood and sustained enough heavy injuries at the hands of Leon that his seemingly infinite healing wasn't working anymore. He would have to get it repaired later, however, for now all that mattered was ending this reign of terror.

There was a beeping from the console, they had made it to New World Misery, much earlier then they expected. Yet in the clouds they could see nothing. It wasn't like the ship could be missed but the fighters could see nothing. They circled the area for some time, looking in every direction. Nothing. John glanced at the radar as comm chatter spread across all open frequencies. The ship wasn't moving, it was just there, in the middle of the air.

_No_. John thought. _Not the air. The ground_. John started to descend towards the sands below and within moments he saw it: The mighty airship, torn asunder by a great and powerful explosion. The ship was torn in half, massive chunks of battered metal lying strung about the sandy bluffs of Arizona. No fires burned, no smoke rose, just a tattered shell remained intact.

What happened here? John mumbled to himself. The only thing he knew of that could cause that level of destruction were the nuclear warheads in the Divide and none of those remained. As Old World Guard soldiers landed and set foot on the surface of the metal with geiger counters and Plasma Rifles, John pondered the devastation, he doubted Elijah or anyone for that matter could have survived an explosion like that, but it seemed strange that in the midst of their ultimate attack the would just fall from the skies in a fireball. Then he realized something: When he saw Leon on the monitor, he was with someone and when he ambushed with Leon, she said she had business in the city before vanishing.

John turned the ship back at light speeds before anyone could even see him do it. Sarah didn't ask where they were headed, after seeing what he did to Leon, she wasn't exactly eager to question.

* * *

New Vegas

John set the fighter down only a few inches from his doorstep in the Lucky 38. He jumped out of the fighter and ran towards the door where Christine Royce and Dog were standing there faces grim.

"Wait John!" Christine yelled.

"Get out of my way!" John screamed in her face. Dog stood in his way.

"John listen to me. Something's happened." Christine said.

John looked back in her direction. What? Christine walked over and whispered two words in his ear. Sarah watched from afar and saw him begin to shake, then he dashed past Dog and inside the Lucky 38. Seemingly every other concern had evaporated because of two words: She's gone.

John was inside in an instant. He ran into the elevator and pressed the button to the Presidential Suite. The doors sparked and shut. The elevator moved up slowly but surely to its destination. Again the door's creaked open, and John was ready to rush out, but he walked forward only a few inches before falling still. He slowly made his way into his and Cass's room, looking inside with horror. On the floor lied a body mangled beyond recognition, no clothing to speak off, and no evidence of who it was.

Except for the Rose Pendant around her neck, smeared in crimson.

"No... Please no..." John mumbled. Tears rushed to his eyes, blood running with them. His body shook and shook and he began to pound on the floor with unspeakable rage and sorrow. He held Cass's body close to him, not even holding in the tears. He took the pendent from her neck and did the one thing he could.

He screamed. It was deafening and filled with the emotions of a broken man. He saw another body at the side of the room: Arcade. From the Plasma Defender in his hand, it looked like he tried to stop whoever was responsible. His eyes darted around the room, looking for anything else, when he saw something painted onto the wall. Among many splatters of blood someone had taken their hand and painted a message on the wall.

Have I got your attention now?


	28. Face of the Watcher

TWO HUNDRED REVIEWS! Thanks so much to everyone who has followed and favorited the story up until this point. You have no idea how great this is for me, thanks to all who have read and supported this story and my others. Really, there aren't even words that describe how much this made my day. Thank you all. :)

* * *

CyberJordan: Yep, I tone it down a little in this chapter, but it will intensify again soon. As for Leon and the Watcher... Read and find out is all I can say. :)

Oddliver: Ummm... That's one way to put it I guess.

Slovous: Whoa slow down there. He'll get his revenge, don't worry. I'm not going to undersell my favorite character.

Exile037: And hunt they will.

dragonclaw1000: Physically speaking the Courier has always been stronger. But the damage Leon has done to his psyche is irreparable. I think of it this way: Leon essentially did the spartan thing and "Made the God-King Bleed."

The Night Hunter: Most of those questions will be answered in the next few chapters. But the Syndicate one I can answer now. They're not. They're loyal to Lazarus and no one else.

Vino213: Good to hear. I'm not stopping now.

Chazzen01: Thank you. I try my best. Glad to see you'll be regularly reviewing now.

Monkeybomba: Eh terms don't matter, call it what you like for all I care. Glad you're enjoying it and hope to hear more from you. P.S I do proofread them, but I'm not a professional so I miss things sometimes.

Dailyfarmhand: Wow, I didn't realize I could have that much of an impact. Thanks very much. I hope I can keep living up to your praise. Thanks.

* * *

Chapter 28

Face of the Watcher

For almost two weeks, no one could speak to John, no one could even enter the room he weeped in. He had disabled the elevator entrance to the room, by disabled as in the elevator could not land on a floor that had a machete in the control box, and sealed any maintenance shafts leading to the floor. In the dining room of the Presidential Suite, John was slumped over on the table from his chair, a somber sight on its own, but the half-empty bottle of Absinthe in his hand didn't help.

He was absolutely motionless as he lay there. His mind was fractured, his body was shaking, and his stomach rumbled ravenously. This was his fault. His mind was set on that idea, that if he had been there he could have intervened. He could have saved Cass and his unborn child had arrogance and hatred not clouded his mind. Now he paid the price and was trying to forget how high it was. It was really quite simple: he gambled and he lost.

As his head lay there on the table, despondent and without hope, he almost wished Orion would attack. At least then he knew he could die proud. Then as he thought about Orion and the future, a strange noise came from one of the other rooms. He didn't pay attention to it though, a mind in shambles and a body starving itself tend to make people uncaring. Then the noise grew closer, passing from room to room, before entering the dining area with a metal thump. John looked up and at the back room saw a blurry and grey silhouette.

"Hello stranger..." He said, having drank enough alcohol to poison and kill all of Las Vegas. "Have a drink, on me" The figure walked closer. I'd be more hospitable... John said, weakly. "...but I've just had a little tragedy."

The figure stopped in his tracks. "If you are who Orion was so afraid of, I weep for humanity." A voice declared. John went sober instantly at the very mention of that name. His blood turned to fire and his vision cleared in an instant. Before him, dressed in heavy armor and wielding a Pulse Gun, stood Lazarus. "Hello Courier." He proclaimed.

John jumped to his feet and drew his pistol at the machine. He fired three shots, but the bullets just flattened on impact with the armor and fell to the ground with a metal clink. John threw the pistol to the side and prepared to charge but as he did Lazarus threw several small metal marbled at John feet. They lit up like the night sky as a small dome of shields encased him. He tried to break out but was met with a violent and painful electric shock.

"I see subtly isn't one of your strong points." Lazarus taunted.

"Let me out of here, you bastard. Let me out and die like the animal you are." John demanded.

"As appealing as that sounds, I'm not interested." Lazarus replied, calm and collected. He could see John's fury ready to be unleashed and decided to try to calm it. "Believe it or not Courier, I'm not here to fight you or even cause harm."

John wasn't convinced. "Really?" He asked with a skeptic sarcasm that wasn't even trying to hide.

"No. I'm here to make a deal with you. The shield is just insurance." Lazarus revealed.

Now he had John's attention rather then just his anger. "What kind of deal could you possibly want machine?" John asked, still skeptical.

Lazarus looked at the shield John was encased in. "Please, call me Lazarus, and the deal I want is quite simple Courier. I help you find your wife's killer and you help me kill Orion." John's eyes widened at Lazarus, whose skeletal features made it hard to tell if he was lying or not, but one way or the other, John knew how he'd respond.

"I'm listening." He finally said, a firmness in his voice. Lazarus looked at John with relief.

"Tell me Courier. What do you know of the Dark Crucible?" Lazarus asked.

"Enough." John replied.

"You know there are five of us, yes?" He asked. John nodded. "Then it may surprise you to find that not all of us follow Orion blindly. Myself and my brother Vandal have always been cautious of him. He is dangerous as you've no doubt discovered but until now I haven't found him to be a true threat to our own interests." Lazarus explained, pacing back and forth while John sat patiently in the shield.

"What changed?" John asked. "Did you finally realize how insane he is?" John didn't realize it but he was dead on.

"Yes." Lazarus replied. "He inflicted torture and pain unto Vandal to make him fall in line. I tried to intervene and help Vandal but Orion cast me aside like I was nothing. I created armies, weapons, and technology for him and he throws me aside so he can bask in his own god complex. He must be stopped, my family must be free." The anger in Lazarus's voice was indescribable.

John raised an eyebrow. "That's touching and all, but I happen to know a few things about you. You despise the human race more the Orion himself. Why side with me?" John asked, increasingly concerned.

"Because the enemy of my enemy is my friend." Lazarus replied. "It will take more than myself to stop Orion. What do you say Courier?"

John sat there for a little while thinking it all over, running calculations and risks in his heads, devising every scenario that could go wrong, all the while continuing to stare at Lazarus. Eventually he spoke and what he said had a mixed reaction from Lazarus.

"I'll help." John started. "One one condition: We find my wife's killer first."

Lazarus looked at him with dismay at first. He had wanted to restore the order of the Dark Crucible as quickly as possible, but then remembered that to get there he would need the Courier's support regardless of when it happened.

"Agreed." Lazarus finally declared, somewhat hesitantly. He dropped the shield remotely and John stood up.

"Where do we start?" John asked, eager to find the animal responsible for his wife's murder.

"I've got a few ideas..."

* * *

Unknown Location

In a cold room somewhere in the wasteland, Leon woke with a gasp and a thud as he hit his head on a cot above him. He fell back in the cot as he felt control return to his limbs. Saying the room was dimly lit would be an understatement, other than a few small lanterns there was no light in the room. Leon looked around for any sign of life, nothing. He sat up straight and got out of his cot. He could tell he was wearing something, but apart from the rubbery feel of it, he couldn't tell what. He noticed his eyesight was far better than it was when he was last conscious. He moved his legs without issue and he felt stronger than ever. As he began to tread across the room with curiosity, he found that his Pip-Boy had been locked, the information on it wiped away, his weapons confiscated, and his clothing replaced with some type of medical suit, similar to the chinese stealth suit, except it distributed painkillers. It was only when he found a light that he could tell any of this.

_Got to find a way out of here. _He thought. His mind had been set into overdrive as he examined every aspect of the room with increased agility and perception. He felt invigorated and stronger than ever. He felt around the room for a light switch but found none. Eventually as he searched the room, he found a door similar to the ones that led inside brotherhood bunkers. It creaked open with a screech of old machinery reawakening and Leon found it was a closet, filled with medicinal items such as Doctor's Bag's, First Aid Kits, and Chems. There was a light on in the room, an old industrial light but a light none the less. It was dim but stable, it's dusty glow echoing a Mojave sunset. He looked for equipment or any advanced technology that could help him along the way. In the end he grabbed a dozen scalpels, a bonesaw, and surgical tubing. The scalpels he could throw at a distance and the bonesaw was for up close while the surgical tubing could incapacitate any threats he could sneak up on.

As he grabbed the bonesaw, a pane of glass fell from one of the shelves and shattered across the floor. One large chunk positioned itself against a shelf, laying perfectly on an angle. Leon glanced down for a moment to look at it then never looked away. His eyes met the reflection of a sleek black and electric blue armor plating covering the left side of his face and both his eyes glowing in similar colors. He looked under his suit and found the same changes had been made. His legs and arms were replaced by sleek black armor with electric blue circuitry. The only flesh that remained on the surface were his mouth and small sections of his chest.

"Beautiful isn't it?" A voice said from the doorway. He turned up and saw the Watcher. It'll take some time to get use to, but they're based off the Brotherhood upgrades you had only a few short months ago, so it should be at least familiar.

Leon just stood still with contempt and hatred. "Why? Why do this to me?" He asked.

She got close and whispered. "To show you the future. Follow me."

Leon looked at her, holding back the urge to break her neck, but slowly followed her out of the room. At this point though he didn't much care about his humanity. All he wanted was answers.

* * *

Wyoming

The Raven was at its top speeds as it gracefully raced across the open skies. John and Lazarus had slipped out of the Lucky 38 with ease, with John only informing Sarah of where they were headed. Her response was simple: "It's your funeral."

John couldn't shake that feeling himself. Lazarus obviously didn't care about humanity or the world, he cared about his machine brethren and there well-being. He seemed to have a degree of caring over the Syndicate but not much more than that. Yet he had come to him in his hour of need and while John was skeptical at an almost comical level, he needed the help. Not just to stop Orion but to quench his thirst for the blood of the Watcher.

"Are you sure we're going to the right place?" John called to the back of the craft.

"I am a highly advanced A.I with the most advanced technology at my disposal, the chances of me making a mistake are slim to none." Lazarus boasted grimly.

"The chance still exists. Everyone makes mistakes." John replied having a flashback to Vegas for a moment. He quickly shook his head and regained his focus. He looked out the side of the cockpit and down below nothing existed but faded sands and granite bluffs. The emptiness was almost haunting in its scope as nothing existed down there. Wyoming was better known as the Badlands in the time after the war, an area so desolate and unforgiving that only the cursed and the damned lived within.

Lazarus entered the cockpit as they entered an area of particularly dense bluffs and rocky cliffs. "Set us down here." He said confidently.

"You're kidding?" John looked at him like he was insane. This area was part of the most desolate lands in the region, setting down here would be like stepping on a landmine.

"I never kid." Lazarus responded with firm anger.

John shook his head in disbelief at first. "If this is a trap..."

"If this was a trap, you'd be dead already. Now put down the damn ship." Lazarus demanded. John complied, albeit with the urge to shoot and kill Lazarus being kept firmly in check. It would be easy when he thought about it. Killing Lazarus would stop the Last Revolution in its tracks and win the war before it starts, but then the voice of John's vengeance and his rage would quell all other thought's in his head.

John didn't wait once the ship set down. He grabbed a LMG, more than 2000 rounds in 5.56 ammunition, and stormed outside with Lazarus in tow. In front of them however John was angry to only find a stone wall in front of them.

"This is what you've brought me too. A wall in the middle of one of the most inhospitable places in the world?" He angrily asked Lazarus.

"Don't be fooled by what your eyes see." Lazarus stated. He placed his metal skeletal hand on the stone wall, gently feeling every crack and stone the decorated the wall. He pressed down on one of the stones with a gentle force but enough force to reveal the secrets in the rock. The bluff shuddered violently as the rockface split open, both halves of the rock sliding to the side, revealing a rusted steel door within.

"I see your point." John said to Lazarus, who simply did his equivalent of rolling his eyes. The door opened with a loud metal clank unveiling a black room to the man and machine at the door. John turned on his Pip-Boy Light and Lazarus activated inferred sensors as they entered the room with caution, neither of them truly understanding what they were about to walk into.

"What do you know about this place, Lazarus?" John asked, uneasily.

Lazarus had a similar uneasy feeling. "Not much." Lazarus replied. "It was a private research facility for Professor Siren before the war. Experimental procedures in certain aspects of human biology, namely the genetic make up of the brain, that served as the forerunner to Orion's creation."

Just the mention of the name Professor Siren threw John into melancholia and hatred. He remembered her sick experiments and plots in New York and the thought that there was still more to be found of her psychotic delusions filled John with a mix of fear and hate. They searched for some form of power switch along the wall to give them better lighting in the room. From John's light he could see that the wall was similar to the interior of the Brotherhood Bunker in the Mojave. Steel frames and rusted iron decorated the room, but they all seemed damaged. Frames were battered, gratings were gnawed, and steel was shattered like glass. An unnerving sight to say the least.

"Whatever was here did a number on the place." John declared.

"Really? I couldn't tell." Lazarus replied with a snarky tone.

"Ha ha." John sarcastic laugh seemed to do something because as he laughed there was a sharp metal shriek from all sides followed by a deafening cry. John immediately swung around with his LMG and looked down the sights into the darkness. Nothing moved, not even a spec of dust in the shadows, there was just the still silence of the long dead. One by one lights began to flicker on across the room with the sound of power returning to the dormant facility. Even with light though the room didn't feel any less eyrie. Now the only difference was they could see where they were going, albeit through a faded blue haze from the lights. They could now see another door on the far side of the now obviously empty room. This door however was more like the Overseer exit to a Vault, a sturdy door opened by a switch on the wall.

John kept his LMG in hand, a fully loaded drum of 200 rounds ready to roar with the sounds of war. Lazarus walked over to the switch, which upon further inspection was revealed to have been smashed.

"Look like someone was trying to stop anyone from accessing the rest of the facility." He said as he examined the switch. "This look to have been hit with a bladed object. Most likely a cleaver or machete."

"Brilliant detective work Sherlock." John taunted with irritation. "Can you get it open?"

"Child's play." Lazarus grunted. He began to play with some of the wires inside the switch, connecting and disconnecting different wires and circuits. A few moments later the switch sparked and the door opened to complete and utter darkness. John looked into it for a moment checking to see if lights would turn on as they did before, only for something to jump from the darkness with a scream.

John let out a burst of rounds but the creature was too quick for his gun, it dodged every bullet then pinned him to the ground, giving him a breif but detailed look at it. It was an african-american woman, almost starved to the bone with a frail complexion and disfigured face, resembling a Trog from the Pitt in someways. Her right eye was missing with the lid branded shut and the right eye left bloodshot. Half of her head with her brown hair had been burned off, leaving violent cuts and burn scars on the left side of her head. She was dressed in a tattered patient's robe from an old world hospital, only adding to insanity of her look.

"The devil lurks in our home!" She screamed. "Cut him into pieces and burn his black heart!" She raised a bloody meat cleaver into the air with a deadly conviction in her eyes. John tried to break free but she held him with an iron grip. Despite her frail and severely malnourished body she was somehow still strong as an ox.

Suddenly a thin beam of cyan light cut through the skull of the woman and her head exploded, popping into a gory red mess like a balloon. The body was still for a moment then fell to the floor and the cleaver crashed into it's back. John looked to see that it was Lazarus who had fired the beam, wielding a Modified Version of the Syndicate Particle Rifles. It resembled a single-barreled caravan shotgun but brandishing external red circuitry and a sleek coat of silver as well as four small talons at the barrel exit.

"Nice shot." John quipped.

"Spare me your humor." Lazarus demanded. John got to his feet and examined the body. There was something ominously familiar about her. Her skin, her voice, her basic build, even her fighting style, it was familiar in some way.

He didn't have much time to think on it though as more screeches and voices came from the hallway behind them. They glanced back, weapons loaded and eyes focused, as at least ten more similar looking women ran from the cloak of shadow, all of them dressed in patient gowns and as starved and disfigured as the first. They charged with Iron Pipes, Knifes, and other blunt melee objects, all with the intent to kill there so called devil. That devil was evidently John.

Taking a deep breath, John and Lazarus fired their respective weapons. The metal foundations of the facility shook with the thundering rattle of a machine gun emptying its drums and the violent shriek of a beam of light came crashing down upon their enemies. The wall were painted red with blood as bodies crashed to the floor. Some were shredded into ribbons as the bullets ricocheting off the walls perforated the skins with a searing pain while others were severed into dozens of pieces by Lazarus's rifle. None that came their way even came close to striking distance.

John and Lazarus advanced through the hall as lights came on across the rest of the steel hallways. They were many different branches of the facility, or as they discovered through one of the maps, Siren's Bounty. That's what she had called it before the war. It still wasn't entirely clear what experiments Siren had been creating here, but whatever it had been, the patients seemed to resent John as a result. They barely paid attention to Lazarus, though, which both John and Lazarus himself found strange. It would seem logical that if Siren had been creating soldiers to fight Orion, they would be focused on him rather then the Courier. Yet whenever they came across patients, they always attacked John first.

The reason behind this were about to become clear as they approached the main laboratory's great blast door. It loomed in front of them, the final obstacle in the way of the answers they both wanted. With a little hacking and a bit of brute force they breached the titanium shielding around the door's outer layer and force it opened, revealing what la within.

They entered the room, slowly but surely creeping in to make sure no patients were inside. Once they were in though, they both wished what they had found had been patients. Instead they found a truly disturbing sight: A wall filled with liquid tanks. Inside those tanks, at least the ones that were still working, were the patients. All arranged into different age groups across the walls of the massive lab and each with different designations. Some had taken form, some were still growing as if in a steel womb.

Slowly John and Lazarus lowered their weapons as they ventured further inside, the blast doors sealing behind them. John walked towards the tanks with hesitation while Lazarus walked toward a large array computer monitors on the right side of the room.

John placed his hand on one of the tanks that had a more mature patient in it, anywhere between 21 and 24. She had no clothing and her whole body seemed lifeless as she floated there. She definitely wasn't aware of her surroundings, that much was certain, but as she floated there, John felt a feeling of somberness fill the room. They all seemed to be hurt as they floated in those tanks, there minds still closed off to the rest of the world.

"This is... Depraved." John declared. Even as he said that though, he still saw something familiar in these women. He couldn't put his finger on it but he had seen them somewhere before.

"Not really." Lazarus called from the monitor. John looked back at him. "According to these terminals they weren't placed in that tank, they were grown in them. They're all genetic duplicates of a single strand of DNA."

"Clones." John said to himself. He looked back and finally made sense of why they all looked alike.

"Evidently." Lazarus agreed. "This machine received orders to create clones about ten months ago. Lazarus continued. Roughly, if I remember correctly, when you were in the Liberty Zone."

John looked back at Lazarus, an expression of confusion and subtle fear covering his face. He didn't speak for a few minutes as he examined the darkened room. "Does it say who these are clones of?" John asked as if he didn't already know. There was only one person Siren had gotten DNA of.

"No. Just some designations and numbers." Lazarus responded.

"But you already know don't you?" A voice suddenly crowed from behind. "You know exactly who Siren desecrated and copied."

John turned around to see who was talking. He shouldn't have been surprised who it was.

* * *

Anarchy One HQ

Leon followed the Watcher out of the medical bay into a damp stone hallway fashioned out of a steel frame stretching across tunnels of grey rock. They walked in silence for sometime before exiting into a large open space, revealing to Leon the location of Anarchy One. In the large space were gigantic pillars of stone and steel, holding up a ceiling of jagged rocks and industrial lights that glowed brightly down on the smooth asphalt floor below. They were in a hollowed out center of a mountain, held up only by these pillars, like atlas holding up the skies.

"Welcome to Supremacy Two." The Watcher declared. Leon looked at her in surprise. "At least that's what it used to be, now most call it Ground Zero." The Watcher looked at the silent Leon, who's contempt for the Watcher had reached a new level. "Still silent? You'll understand soon enough Leon."

Before she could start walking again, Leon grabbed her by the shoulder. "You haven't earned the right to call me that." Leon grimaced.

"Oh I have. I earned that right long ago. I've known you longer than anyone still alive today." The Watcher seemed confident in that fact. "Follow me to what I wanted to show you, then I'll give your answer."

"My answer?" Leon asked, agitated.

"Who I am." She replied, her voice seemingly humble for a moment. She motioned him to follow her across the pathways leading to the other side of the open area. Leon hesitated but followed swiftly. Below them soldiers dressed in Advanced Power Armor patrolled around engineers and scientist hard at work. Leon was sickened by there very existence, he remembered Supremacy One more than anything else, their existence was burned into his mind forever. The fact that he had found the missing piece, the unknown Supremacy, would astound even John. As they walked, the Watcher revealed the history of her organization.

"You see my group here, Anarchy One as we call ourselves, are the few brave enough to stand against tyranny and oppression wherever it would appear. We are the former remnants of Supremacy's Two and Six as well as the remainder of some of the Faction from the East Coast." They entered into an elevator at the other side of the open room that quickly began to descend.

"They have been my family for some time. But I've missed the people I truly care about." She looked at Leon who looked back with a scowl of disgust. "Oh, you will understand soon enough." The elevator door opened and they stepped out. She didn't continue to explain anything else, she just told him what she felt he had to know. They walked down several more hallways before reaching their destination. A metal door creaked open and they walked in to find that it was an observation room. What they were observing: A gigantic furnace with Father Elijah, the Major, and Regis all inside. It was off for now, but Leon didn't want to see what would happen if they turned on.

"These fools believed that I would assist them in their own sick agendas." The Watcher said that with no small degree of irony from Leon. "Of course that is a mistake some make when they are promised everything, only to find they odds were never in their favor."

"What are you going to do?" Leon asked her as the Watcher moved her hand.

"Simple. I'm going to cleanse the Earth of this filth. Just as your father did in the Capital Wasteland." She pressed a button on the console and suddenly the orange glow of fire filled the room. From inside the furnace screams could be heard as the prisoners skin was melted away by great fires. Leon watched as they turned to skeletons glowing and burning before even there bones turned to nothing more than ash.

Leon had seen enough. He grabbed the Watcher and held a scalpel to her throat. "WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" He screamed. Her response was calm and simple.

"I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Leon dropped his scalpel in surprise, slowly backing away.

"You ask who I am? I'm surprised you never figured it out..." She carefully removed her helmet and revealed her face. Leon's eyes widened, his heart coming to a sudden stop as he looked into the eyes of someone he never thought he would see again.

Both in Ground Zero and Siren's Bounty, John and Leon were looking down the face of a ghost. Someone who they both saw die, someone they both knew shouldn't exist, and someone they both had regrets about. From opposite sides of the same coin, they both spoke the same name as they looked her in the eyes.

"Amata."


	29. The Shepard's Bane

Well shorter chapter then usual, mainly because any longer would make this chapter seem awkwardly paced.

Oh and I'm not sure about this, but I think a few people were confused last chapter. Let me give a breif recap.

There are TWO Amata Clones that are capable of thought. One's talking to John and the other is the Watcher. She is talking to Leon. With that in mind, I have taken the liberty of making this easier to follow. The first clone will be referred to as Amata and the second will be referred to as the Watcher or Amaya. Just wanted to clear that up.

* * *

CyberJordan: This chapter may surprise you then. The Watcher is trying for revenge, and as you'll find out the second clone has a different plan in mind. One thing may lead to both heroes having a reality check. Hint hint.

Oddliver: I haven't lost my skill at plot twists.

Slovous: Okay here's my next poster: All the different incarnations of Leon as a cyborg. Here's the next update.

Exile037: Siren will always linger on in my stories. She's exceptionally important. Glad you liked it.

Dragonclaw1000: You knew it was going to be a clone of Amata? I must be giving too many hints. :) In all seriousness, though, glad people could anticipate who it was going to be, I've heard from several others about it too, but I doubt anyone could anticipate what the circumstances of her return would be.

The Night Hunter: Thank you.

Chazzen01: She didn't, Watcher's a clone and so is the one talking to John. They do make Vault Dwellers out of sturdier stuff though. (Ironically)

* * *

Chapter 29

The Shepard's Bane

Siren's Bounty

John stood before a ghost as he looked into the eyes of a woman who should be dead, specifically because he shot her in the head and sent her flying from a hundred story building. Yet here she stood, Amata Almodavar in the flesh, her fixed gaze directed at John and Lazarus, who in all his calculations and ideas, had never imagined a scenario quite like this.

"Well?" She started. "Aren't you going to say something? How surprised you are to see me alive? How much pain has been caused because of me? Or do you understand what I am?"

John placed his hands behind his back and examined Amata head to toe. His eyes eventually fell on hers and they both shared a moment of silence that was ultimately broken by John's answer.

"I know, but humor me. Explain yourself, give us your reason why you exist." John demanded.

Amata smiled. "Your still the same Courier I remember from New York, or rather who she remembers from New York. Before I tell you my full answer, answer me something: What happened to Leon?" She asked, her face full of fright and curiosity.

Now John was surprised. "You... Don't know?" John asked.

"I've been trapped here for over half a year, feeding off meager rations and animal life that finds its way in. All I know of Leon are dreams that plague me. They mock me with visions of Leon wreaking terrible damages and death across your home. They scare me Courier, they feel too real."

John now was putting the lasr pieces of the puzzle into place. "That's because they are. You're not experiencing dreams, you're experiencing memories. You're a clone. The only one who seems to be complete or sane in this entire base."

Amata seemed to take that news slightly well. "I... Thought as much. I have memories of the original Amata. Her thoughts, her dreams, and her final moments..." Amata looked up at John. "...of you, shooting her through the head."

"It was the only way." John defended. "She was experimented on and tortured, it was mercy, not murder."

"I know, I remember that too." She said, shivering. "Well, I suppose you answered my question, I guess I should answer yours correctly. Yes, I am a clone of the original Amata, one of the few who was created correctly, and as far as I can tell the only one still alive. I was created about 7 months ago, from what I can tell as a pawn in a game Siren never quite finished. My thoughts aren't always clear, I have to deduce which one's are mine, which ones are the originals, and which one's are the... Others."

Lazarus jumped on at this point. "You mean the ones we fought outside?" He quickly began to put some pieces together himself, acting almost gleefully as he did. "You are clones, all created with at least one of the same brain cells which would create a sort of transcendent psionic connection between you all."

John looked at him with confusion. "Could you put that into terms that make sense to things other than machines?" He asked, sarcastically.

"They can feel each other's thoughts." He simplified with extreme irritation.

Amata jumped back on at this point. "It doesn't matter where they come from, they torture me. Seeing things I know I haven't done and would never do." John let go of all his suspicion and anger at her as he heard those words. It made sense to him now, she was as close to the original as possible. A symbol of moral fortitude and humanity. Something he and Leon had long since abandoned. She wasn't the killer he had seen in New York. She was Amata.

As John became lost in thought Amata began to break down in tears as she thought about all the memories trapped in her head.

"There are things I remember and see that I don't want to. Faces passing me by with a looks of horror, judgement, disappointment, and fear. Then all I see is black as all of my kind die, their final moments etched into my brain." Amata collapsed down to a small steel pillar on the ground. "Please help make them stop John! Please!" She begged as she sat on a makeshift bench with her eyes clutched firmly in the palm of her hands, crying tears of salty agony.

Suddenly she stopped crying as a hand fell upon her back. She looked to her side to see John, his face calm and sympathetic for the first time in a long while.

"I won't abandon you here." He said. "I've made too many mistakes, I won't make another."

Amata had an expression of relief on her face as she looked at John. "Thank you." She replied. Her relief and John's promises were quickly shattered by the sound of Lazarus beginning to speak.

"I hate to break so many illusions but that may be harder than you think." He said, examining the monitors. He was looking at a vast list of all sorts of different information.

"Evidently, while you are the only sane clone, you aren't the only completed clone. Looking at this list, and I'm guessing this is out of the more poetic half of me, you are Clone-101 correct?" Lazarus asked with anticipation. Amata shrugged with a look of uncertainty. "Well let's just say you are. It seems that there is another clone completed on this list, Clone-71. She is also listed as completed."

"If she does exist, I haven't seen her around here." Amata seemed strangely clam again.

I'm not surprised. This computer has been ordered to keep creating more of you until Professor Siren says otherwise. She was probably created in one of the batches before you. It would also seem that madness still has its hooks in some of you.

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"She has a warning placed next to her. The machine didn't release her, she broke out of her cloning tank, damaged the main machine, and killed at least seven of those patients with her bare hands before fleeing the facility. Hence why those patients are being released so often." Lazarus looked back and forth at the warning. "Well isn't that interesting. Says here these clones were actually being created BEFORE you entered the Liberty Zone."

"What?" John asked, a slight amount of shock in his voice. Amata seemed even more disturbed.

Something about a deal made in exchange for some kind of... leverage. Whatever Siren had planned, it seemed she knew fate would find her in the end. Lazarus went silent for a time as he read the information. I'll need more time to examine this.

"Then it can wait." John declared. "Download the information onto a holotape and we can take a look at it later."

"Before we do that, I think you both should look at one last thing." Lazarus moved out of the way and Amata began to read some information on the second clone.

Elite combat skills. Highly intelligent. Sadistic tendencies. These were only some of the things written on the list but the one part Lazarus wanted John and Amata to see was bolded at the bottom.

Obsession with Leon Stinger.

John looked up at Lazarus with an expression of realization and Lazarus's next words could not be said any less smugly.

I think I've found your killer.

* * *

Ground Zero

Leon was silent as he watched the woman in front of him with disgust and shock.

Amata? He asked, his voice stuttering as he spoke.

I prefer Amaya now. It fits my new life a lot more. Amaya, as she called herself, looked at Leon with a look of sick pleasure and depravity.

Leon's shock faded fast as he looked at her face and raw anger replaced it. "Tell me the truth. Who are you?" Leon demanded.

I've told you, I am Amaya. Amaya Almodovar. She reinforced; the name Dao suddenly making sense.

"Say that name again and I'll crack your head open like an egg." Leon threatened. "Who... What the hell are you?"

"I suppose I'm not THE Amata. More of an off-shoot of her." She continued to say, taunting Leon evermore.

Leon was able to put things together just as quick as John. "You're a clone." Leon called.

"No. I'm an improvement." She declared, her voice growing even more sinister.

"An improvement?" Leon asked, clinching his fist and grinding his teeth in frustration.

The old Amata was too... Overburdened. Weighed down by morality and humanity. My creator has purged those things from my mind. She raised her arms as if she were Jesus Christ and with a sick smile on her face brought Leon's blood to a boil. "I am true perfection. I am what she could never be."

Leon angrily stared her down. "You're a fucking abomination created by Siren's ambitions. You taint her very name by wearing her skin."

"Oh Leon. So judgemental. However I have to give you credit for perception. She smiled, recognizing that it wasn't hard to know Siren created her. I am a clone, created to be a double-edged sword. An effective and completely obedient soldier as well as a psychological weapon against you. One of many. Leon was ready to cut his ears off as she spoke, her very voice almost made his ears bleed. However, when Siren died she was in the process of purging my memories to upload her own. Create a sort of immortality for herself. The result: the Beauty that stands before you."

Amaya's vanity disgusted Leon. His hatred had turned to complete contempt. The fact that the clone bore Amata's face like it was a mask made his emotional turmoil turn into a storm of anger. This thing in front of him, whatever she was, wasn't Amata.

She walked forward, having the same sick grin on her face. She put her hand on his face, the one area of his body not covered by black armor, at least at the front. Unlike the implants from before, the armor that covered him didn't replace his limbs, they simply covered them, with special types of hydraulic muscles on the inside that surrounded his broken body. Essentially his regular body was now the skeleton to his machine muscles and metal skin. An exo-suit of sorts.

Amaya ran her finger across his frail and pale flesh. His face curved and fell into scars and bones, while his electric eyes watched her with anxiety. He eventually slapped away her hand with a metal clank. "You still don't accept me?" Amaya asked, her self-vanity clouding common sense.

Leon's eyes almost lit on fire with that comment. "You're a vain and psychotic mass murderer." Leon grimly declared. "Like I said before you're not Amata. She died in Manhattan. So no."

Amaya frowned. "Pity. I had hoped for something more... Intimate. No matter. You're still useful."

"And why on god's earth would I help you?" Leon asked.

"Because we both crave the same thing. Revenge." Amaya let out a half-smile and Leon raised an eyebrow. "Of course, you are free to go anytime you like. Back into the outside world, but think of this: After all you've done, all the lives you've ruined, do you think they'll accept you and let you go free?" Leon's fist slowly unraveled, his teeth went still. His eyes went down to his mechanical body for a few moments then back up to Amaya, whose half-smile was now a full-on grin. "It's all up to you." If you decide to stay, you can find me in main power room. She gave him a nod and then left the room.

Leon looked at the ash filled furnace, his eyes glowing brightly. He looked at that ash and remembered what he had happened outside Vegas. How quickly John attacked him and realized something.

He honestly didn't know who was worse at this point. The Watcher or the Courier.

* * *

Outside of Siren's Bounty, John was storming towards the Raven at a furious pace as Lazarus and Amata slowly followed, Lazarus helping Amata into the eye-piercing sunlight. For this Amata had never been outside before and while she had memories of the sun, it was very different actually seeing it. As Amata stepped into the open sunlight, she stumbled as it hit her eyes like a laser penetrating steel. She shielded her eyes with her left arm, something Lazarus took notice of.

The light too much for you? Lazarus asked. She tried to smile as a headache took her by storm. "That's what I thought." Lazarus grabbed her shoulder and arm. "Sit down." He took her over to a nearby boulder and place her down on it. He looked up as she rubbed her eyes to find that John had gotten into the Raven. He hadn't piloting it yet or even started it up. The ship just sat there with its engines cooled and it's hull still.

Amata moaned a little as she blinked in the sunlight, bringing Lazarus's attention back to her. "Your eyes should adjust soon enough. The sun can be merciless in the desert."

"It's not just my eyes." Amata said. "I get headaches every few hours. Usually accompanied by my memories rearranging itself like a jigsaw puzzle." She rubbed her temples as pain ravaged her mind.

"Are there any specific memories that change?" Lazarus asked, concerned.

"No. It's usually a blur." A brief flash like dozens of photos flying out in front of eyes. Amata explained, murmuring the occasional moan.

Probably psionic backlash from the connection. I believe I have some painkillers somewhere. Lazarus pressed a button on his armor and from his waist belt on the armor, he pulled four small gel pills forth. He handed it over to Amata. Swallow those and your headaches should subside for sometime.

Amata uneasily took the pills from Lazarus's bony hands and swallowed them. "Thanks... I suppose." Amata said, eyeing Lazarus suspiciously.

"May I sit with you?" Lazarus asked.

Amata eyed him suspiciously but scooted slightly to the left, allowing Lazarus to sit down. There was an awkward silence in the air for a moment, before Lazarus looked at her.

"When you get these memory flashes, do you feel any other symptoms?"

"Symptoms?" She asked.

"Rise in body temperature, heart pains, pinched nerves, things like that." Lazarus said, being strangely specific.

"No..." Amata stated uneasily.

"Hmmm... I've noticed you experience sudden personality and emotional changes. Sadness and grief stricken to calm and calculating. Do these things happen often?"

"No offense Lazarus, but why do you care so much?"

"Hm?" Lazarus asked in response, not understanding what she was asking.

"You don't seem to share any of these concerns when John is injured." Amata explained to the machine.

"The Courier is far more capable of recovering from his injuries then you are. Not to mention these are technically your first real steps into the world and I..." Lazarus trailed off mid sentence, as if he was having difficulties with what he was about to say, something that very rarely happened.

"The truth is I find you fascinating."

Amata widened her eyes at that statement. She didn't know what to make of it, but she didn't have much time to think on it.

"Get on board. We're leaving." John called from the Raven boarding ramp.

Lazarus looked up towards John. "Where are we going?" He asked in response.

"To say goodbye to an old friend of mine." John was somber for a moment and then walked into the craft. Amata and Lazarus quickly followed aboard, not realizing how hard this was going to be for the Courier.

How hard it was going to be to say goodbye to his oldest friend.

* * *

Leon entered a dark room only lit by the light emerging from four generators located around the room. His eyes darted from side to side as he looked around for Amaya.

"Amaya?" He called out. No reply. I'm here. What did you want to show me? He asked.

"It's not what she wanted to show you, it's what I wanted to show you." A deep voice bellowed from the darkness. Leon glanced around for the source of the voice but could only see darkness. Suddenly, one by one, lights flickered on and lit the room battered interior. In the center of the room stood the source of the voice: A metal man, dressed in thick sheets of hexagonal plates that fused together into a suit of armor resembling a samurai's suit, interlocking in a thick layer over a humanoid body.

"I know your name and I know your title. Leon Stinger. The Lone Wanderer. Now let me introduce myself."

"I am Goliath, the Shepard's Bane, and you are going to help me kill my brother Orion."


	30. The End of the Road

Well, it's almost over. Just a few more chapters left and the story of Supremacy One will end. But that doesn't mean I don't have plans for the future. I'm going to be sticking to Fallout for awhile longer, so be ready for a few more stories after this one. Some will be spin-offs, some will be prequels, all will still be set in the Supremacy One universe.

Time for tragedy again. Take a guess at who it will be.

* * *

CyberJordan: All very good observations. You'll be surprised what lasts and what doesn't, but right now John's about to face another tragedy in his life. It's smart not to guess where all roads in this story lead.

Oddliver: He won't. John couldn't do it, it would take away the importance of that moment and honestly his feelings for Cass are too much.

Slovous: Well, Goliath has an agenda of his own, but Amaya is going to get what's coming to her eventually, but not right away. As for Leon, he may be unstable, but he's not blind.

Vino213: I'll keep that in mind.

Exile037: Thank you. You'll see soon enough that John's regret far outweighs any optimism he once had.

dragonclaw1000: The reference was the best I could think of.

Chazzen01: Someone who's saved the Courier time and time again. He took a bullet for him.

* * *

Chapter 30

The End of the Road

Supremacy Central

Orion, Vandal, and Strife all stood in the main room of Supremacy Central, where Orion gently pressed his fingers on his head.

"Okay..." He started. "Let's say I choose to believe what you're telling me. How in the hell does Lazarus escape without us knowing?"

"He must have planned this for some time." Strife explained, her tone alert and frightened. "He used Holograms to project images of the Syndicate into their loading bay as well as images of the humans we captured. They must have all been scattered by Lazarus. Lost to the wind by now."

Orion pounded the table. "I don't care about those technological nightmares and savages. Tell me where Lazarus is." Orion demanded, angrily.

Strife looked to Vandal then back to Orion. "We don't know." She finally said. Orion looked at her with terrible anger, standing up from his chair and walking towards her. Strife desperately tried to prove her words. "We think he built something that cut the signal between us and him. We can't find-" She was cut off by Orion's hand firmly locking on her throat, crushing the main data line in her back; her equivalent of a spinal cord.

"You disappoint me Strife. I expected so much more from you." He said.

"Please!" She cried as Orion gauntlet began to surge with energy. "Give me another chance! I can find him! Just give me more time!" She begged and begged as Orion's hand surged with a scorching thermal energy.

"Time is something I can no longer spare." Suddenly his gauntlet lit up with a shriek of energy, moments later a blinding beam of pale light tore through Strife like paper. She exploded into hundreds of small shrapnel pieces that quickly impaled themselves into the wall, smoking red-hot as they melted away into a molten paste.

Vandal looked on unemotionally as Orion picked up another Absolution Key from the ground. He didn't seem even slightly phased at what he just saw, rather he seemed to be glad it wasn't him. Orion sat back down and looked at the two keys on his desk with an emotionless stare. One from Archangel now another from Strife, Lazarus's view of Orion was being proved more true by the moment.

"We need to find him." Orion declared, stressed and angry. "Our final victory depends on his key."

"I am not the most skilled tracker in the world." Vandal started. "I believe are only real solution is to wait for our enemies to make the first move. Explosions tend to flush rats from their holes."

Orion glanced at Vandal with an expression of distant approval. "Agreed." He said. "Until Anarchy One or the Courier mobilizes we stay put." Vandal nodded and left the room, leaving Orion to his thoughts. It was hard for him to belief, in all his ignorance, he didn't realize that Lazarus wasn't loyal to him, and he suspected the same of Vandal. He was running fast out of friends and stockpiling enemies at this point. He didn't dwell on it though, if he succeeded with the Last Revolution, none of it would matter.

* * *

New Hopeville

A dark feeling loomed in the heart of the Courier as sorrow and hate controlled his actions at this point. The Raven was silent both outside and inside as no one could speak to the Courier as they approached the Divide. The scars in the Earth below were both haunting and strangely comforting to the Courier as the golden sands of the Mojave became a distant memory in the crimson ash of the Divide. He remembered when he entered here in a time that seemed to be almost ages ago. When he first set foot on Divide soil he thought he had died. That what he was seeing was a fresh hell for him, but no, it was real and all caused by choices that he had long since forgotten. He remembered standing among the giants of the Divide in the silo that housed ED-E, how he fired the missile that would create the Courier's mile, and most of all, he remembered the voice that guided him to the end of the Lonesome Road: Ulysses.

When they had first met, it was just a fleeting moment. John was walking towards the Mojave when he saw a man in a duster brush by him at break neck pace. Both shared a glance for a moment, not realizing what the future would hold for the both of them. There was a flash not long after that John turned back to see. There in the Divide where men, women, and children dwelled in the ruins of America, mushroom clouds erupted from beneath the Earth, something so traumatizing that John blacked it out from memory, buried and never meant to be uncovered. Yet Ulysses had other plans. He drew John back into the Divide, making him tear through the ruins and conquer the Marked Men and Tunnelers, knowing he would survive and face him. When they met it was under the flag of hostility, now as John approached the silo that they met that fateful day, they would part under a different flag. A flag of brotherhood.

The ship gently set down on the silo floor, the grates creaking as the ship landed. One by one John, Lazarus, and Amata shuffled off the ship, somber and without happiness. A man in Advanced Tesla Armor walked forward, saluting the Courier.

"Good evening sir. Colonel Anderson Red at your service." He said very formally and with no small deal of respect.

John glanced around with concern. "Where is General Cassidy?" John asked, having expected to see Checkmate here.

"I'm sorry sir, I thought you were told." Anderson replied.

"Informed of what?" John asked.

"The General resigned three days ago. We haven't seen him since." The Colonel explained.

John widened his eyes at that, although it wasn't a very big surprise. The man had just lost his one and only daughter and probably blamed the Courier. Not completely unjustifiably either. "Then congratulations, you're now General Red. I'll formalize the details later, but right now I have another priority."

Anderson's surprise and gratitude quickly evaporated into grim understanding. "Of course sir. Right this way, he's in the medical wing and doesn't have a lot of time left. Before he left he spotted Lazarus and Amata. Do they need to be anywhere?" Red asked.

John looked back at the duo. "Take them to any open lab. Provide them with any service they might need." John declared. Both Amata and Lazarus seemed relieved at that sentence, probably having expected John to lock them both up.

"Yes sir. Follow me." He declared. John and Red walked to the back of the room as two guards arrived and showed Lazarus and Amata the way to the labs. As they split off in separate directions, they couldn't help but wonder who could attract the attention of the Courier this much.

Then again they didn't know Ulysses.

* * *

Lab 4

In the spare lab, complete with medical equipment, two terminals, three cots, and other useful things, Lazarus had decided to start treating the clone Amata's condition. She sat in a patient gown on one of the cots as Lazarus prepared a few things nearby.

"Is this going to be painful?" She asked, concerned.

Lazarus looked over at her. "Extraordinarily." He replied, wondering why she would even ask.

Amata's face went pale, her throat dry, and her lungs short of breath. "Exactly why will it be so painful?" She eventually asked, her face not even hiding the terror in her eyes.

"Because I am going to be shattering your psyche like glass then carefully reconstructing it. You'll only feel the pain for about three seconds but it will feel as though the entire Great War was focused inside your head." Lazarus seemed completely graceless and emotionless as he told her this, leaving her extremely stressed out. He appeared to notice this and walked over with a small syringe filled with a violet liquid lined with small white bubbles forming on the inside. He moved her neck to the side and injected her with it, making her twitch and gasp for a second before a bandage was placed on her neck, the needle removed.

She felt her neck and looked around. "What was that?" She asked, not feeling any different except a little more calm.

"A chemical specially designed to limit brain and heart function during the procedure. Basically, I took away all your anxiety and stress." Lazarus explained. "The effect is not permanent, it will wear off in about six hours, but we will be done by then."

Amata looked up at him with surprise. "Thank you." She said, hesitantly.

"You're welcome." He replied, his skeletal features not seeming nearly as intimidating as they had when the two had met. "Contrary to what you may believe, I don't want to inflict pain upon you. Humans perhaps, but not you. No, you're different."

"What do you mean?" Amata asked again, still unsure about Lazarus.

"Like I've told you before, you fascinate me. You have so many memories and experiences that I could only dream of seeing. Not just of the original Amata's, but all the clones, as well as a few of Siren's." Lazarus explained, sounding like a young child dreaming of seeing the world. So much knowledge that I wish I knew.

"I would have thought you would have seen the world you were trying to conquer." She asked, feeling Lazarus's chemical kick in.

"I've only seen a few cities. London, Cairo, Moscow, but as much as I once despised you..." He was about to say savages but stopped and corrected himself. "Humans... I always have admired your enginuity and creativity. I've always wanted to study your people, your cultures, your lives."

"So you want to see the world?" Amata guessed this was where he was trying to go.

"Yes in a sense." He continued fastening some wires and creating some type of device using the terminal on the table. "Humanity has always puzzled me in a way, you are the only thing in the universe that does not seem to have any purpose. They create, they destroy, they feel, they die, but for what? From his tone, Amata guess this had troubled Lazarus for some time. The reason your so fascinating is you have a purpose."

"Oh?" Amata inquired. "And what's that?"

"To be the only mystery in the universe worth solving." Lazarus quoted. "Your memories, your existence, all worth seeing and hearing."

Amata looked at him with a sense of newfound knowledge. She gazed at him for a moment as he finished the device that would carry out the procedure on her. It took her a moment then she spoke again.

"Did you ever stop and think that's the purpose of all humans?" Amata asked.

Lazarus looked at her with confusion. "Excuse me?" He asked.

"Think about it. Humanity has never had one unified ideal, maybe that's why we exist, we're a mystery to be solved." She suggested.

Lazarus seemed impressed. "Interesting idea." He started that ought but never seemed to finish as the terminal began to blink. "Ah, device is up and running." He walked over and placed a small electronic patch on her back neck. "This will allow me to monitor your condition. Your thoughts will appear as code on this terminal and allow me to erase the ones that aren't your own. Got it?" Amata nodded. "Good. Let's begin."

Lazarus began pressing buttons on the terminal with a graceful dance of his fingers, and moments later Amata screeched in a deafening scream of suffering as the device came online. Suddenly the terminal began repeating the word malfunction before shutting down. Amata fell over in pain onto the cot, her nose bleeding heavily.

Lazarus walked over. "Are you all right?" He asked.

"Yeah..." She moaned as she got back up, wiping the blood from her nose.

"Are your memories gone?" He asked.

Amata looked at him angrily. "No. If anything there are more of them now. What the hell did you do?!" She cried.

"The machine overloaded, this technology isn't advanced enough to repair your psyche. Basically instead of fixing the damage, it opened the floodgates and didn't close them again."

Amata looked furious at this point. "Well that's fantastic. Thanks so much for the help Lazarus." She sneered sarcastically.

Lazarus truly hoped that whatever the Courier was doing he was having a better time then they were.

* * *

Medical Wing

As it would turn out, their failure would not even make a dent in the amount of failure the Courier was feeling now. As he followed Red into the medical wing and through the curtained rooms of wounded people he came across the one he was looking for or rather, the last one he was looking for.

There was a cough from inside the room as violent as could be, from the outside John could see the bloodshot eyes and weary face of a broken man. A man who,had lived far longer then he should have and now painfully watched the clock as his last moments approached.

"Come in Courier." He croaked. It was Ulysses, there was no doubt about it. His voice was shaken and battered, his face torn and his body crumbling away as he lay on his bed. John waited before heading in, telling Red to relay some information back to New Vegas, before stepping inside the room to share his friends final hour.

"I... Didn't think... You would make it here." He coughed as he finished that sentence, blood rushing up his throat.

"It would be wrong for someone not to be here Ulysses." John declared.

"And why... Does that someone... Have to be you?" He asked, weakly with his life slipping away slowly.

"Because it could be no one else." John replied, his voice somewhat comforting to Ulysses.

"I suppose." Ulysses replied. He coughed again with a quiet screech in the back of his throat, his voice trembling and his eyes drifting. "I heard about Cass. I am... truly sorry." He still had the strength to speak, however little.

"I wish I didn't have to see it again so soon. John replied, sitting on a chair next to his friend.

"Do not mourn me Courier. History certainly won't." Ulusses seemed especially somber in this darkest of hours as he lay there on what was certainly going to be his deathbed. The Courier didn't respond to Ulysses claim, choosing to believe that history would remember its champion. There was silence for a time, nothing more than the brief sound of Ulysses heartbeat kept alive by a sequence of electric shocks emanating from cables latched on his chest and a machine to keep him breathing.

The silence was once again broken by Ulysses's weak voice. "I want you... To do something Courier." John was all ears. "On that cabinet drawer over there... There are two packages. One to keep... One to deliver. Your final job as a Courier."

John walked over to the cabinet, carefully examining the packages. The one that was for him was an old colonial american flag, folded and fashioned from its crisp remains into a triangle, signifying honor in a very old world way.

"My final tribute... To what you have accomplished." Ulysses declared, his voice crowing and croaking.

"I'll carry it with honor." John replied, respect and admiration in his voice, almost mirroring his sorrow and despair.

The other however was actually a package, it's lid slighty ajar. John moved the lid aside and glanced at was inside. As he did it seemed like time stopped, every muscle in John's body ceased to move, except his head which was quickly looking back towards Ulysses with a look of uncertainty and surprise.

"Forgive those... Who cannot forgive you." Ulysses ominously quoted. "You know who that package belongs to... See that they get it."

John put the package in his inventory and proceeded to sit back down with Ulysses. "Is there anything else you need?" John asked.

Ulysses seemed to think of it as the clock struck three. "One thing." He replied, his voice frail and broken.

"What?" John asked.

"Just listen. Listen to the sounds of America, my dear friend." Ulysses said. For a moment there was silence, nothing but the creak of old metal, then there was a harmony coming from Ulysses voice, quiet and frail yet haunting and harmonious, which he seemed to have held onto for sometime.

"Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light,

What we so proudly hailed at the twilight's last gleaming,

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,

O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?

And the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,

O does that star-spangled banner still wave,

In the land of the free..." Ulysses stopped abruptly, coughing and taking one final breath.

"And the home of the brave." John finished the anthem with a sorrowful pride. Ulysses gave him one last glance, his eyes somber and fearful yet calm, then closed silently.

Ulysses was dead.

John didn't cry, he didn't choke up, or even flinch when it happened. He just accepted it with a solemn prayer that where ever he had gone, it was a better world then this.

John stood up, slowly placed both Ulysses hands over his chest, then walked out with not another word spoken.

_That's it._ He thought. _No one else dies because of me. One way or another, Supremacy One goes down today. _That was one promise he would keep.


	31. An End in Sight

Okay I really don't have anything to say except to give another big thank you to everyone who's read my stories so far, more specifically those who read my stories from the beginning. Fallout: Supremacy One just crossed 10,000 views and is still climbing with Price of Defiance and Last Revolution poised to follow before the end of the month. This is another big milestone for me, I'm extremely happy I've come this far, and I'm not stopping now. Thank you all! Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: Something like that. But as for Lazarus, I figured the only human he could really sympathize with is the one who isn't actually human, and Orion... Well let's just say you can never count him out.

Oddliver: Your right, hence the name of the chapter.

Slovous: Thank you. I thought I went a little overboard actually. But I'm glad I made an impact, that makes me feel very good inside.

Vino213: Thanks. Had to give one last motivator.

dragonclaw1000: It's coming back quickly, even John knows there's a limit to the madness.

Exile037: And me as well.

Chazzen01: Yeah I suppose. I will give a hint to what the package is containing, other then what I said above, it's more of a symbol then something of value.

Superstar Kid: All will be answered in the next few chapters or should I say the last few chapters.

* * *

Chapter 31

An End in Sight

Hours passed after Ulysses passed away, leaving John with a solemn promise in his mind. He would destroy Supremacy One, he would destroy all they ever stood for, all their technology, all their ideals, all of them. They would burn in the inferno of his wrath. For the longest time, he had watched with caution and despair as they worked in secret, planning and preparing for the day they emerged in the Mojave, in a time that felt like an eternity ago. Now the end was in sight, the war was almost over, but who would win was still a question present in his mind. From here on out he would hold nothing back, he would show no mercy, he would take no prisoners, he would not settle for anything short of total victory.

Ulysses body had been taken away, placed in an advanced casket filled with stasis devices that would preserve his body for all time, leaving John sitting inside the dimly lit room, pondering where they would go. He had a plan, he had a team, and he had conviction, all he needed was the place to go. As his emotions stirred and his muscles became tense, someone was standing in the door frame looking at him. She was dressed in Power-Armor and holding a Laser-Rifle, her golden hair reflecting in the light.

"Are you okay John?" Sarah asked, her voice concerned and her gaze alert.

John's eyes rolled towards her. "I'm fine." John declared.

Sarah didn't seem to believe it. "You sure about that?" Sarah asked.

"I accepted that Ulysses's fate was sealed long before now. He died the way he deserved: Peacefully." John declared, showing the highest of respect for his fallen friend. "He's not my concern right now."

"Supremacy One?" Sarah asked, her tone sharply raising to anger.

"Every time I make a move there one step ahead, always ready to strike." John explained. "We need to take the advantage. We need to find them or Anarchy One and hit them where they live so to speak." John explained. His face cracked and shook with rage, his skin crackling with green electricity.

"That's far easier said then done." Sarah stated, knowing the odds of their situation and world. She sat down on the cot trying to think of a solution with John, whose gaze seemed to be going into space as his mind wandered from place to place. His thoughts were on the package, what was inside, and why he should even try to deliver it. He pulled it from his inventory and stared at it. It was in an old cardboard box, loosely taped and beaten to hell, but it was intact.

"You still have feelings for him, don't you?" John asked out of the blue to Sarah.

She looked surprised and a little frightened. "What..?" She started, a paralyzed fear running through her.

"For Leon." He stated. "You still care about him."

Sarah didn't reply, her voice was lost in a sea of fear. She may have been the Sentinel of the Brotherhood at one point but she had witnessed John's wrath firsthand and didn't want to be on the receiving end of it. "Of course not..." She said unconvincingly.

"Sarah..." He said, practically demanding the truth.

She looked up at John and saw there was no wrath in his voice or anger in his expression, just a firm curiosity. She finally nodded at him and he looked back at the package seemingly uncaring. She wondered why he asked the question until he asked another.

"After all he's done, you still have hope in him."

"I always did. I've known Leon a long time. Even when he fell, when he became what he is..."

"You love him." John finished. Sarah nodded, teary eyed. He had never seen her very emotional and at the time he didn't care but now, after what happened to his wife and his brother in arms, he had a different outlook on life. To some extent at least, he was still bitter, cold, and ruthless by every definition of the term, but at the same time he felt he had to cherish the people he had. Humanity was on the verge of extinction before Orion's assault, now they were hanging on by a thread, one that could be cut at any moment.

Suddenly John's Pip-Boy lit up like a christmas tree with the speakers beeping rapidly. John quickly looked at it, pressing a few buttons on the device, then began reading an incoming message. It was a series of coördinates, followed by the words "Where it must end." There was no image or sign of who sent the message, but it didn't take someone with high intelligence to figure it out, especially when it was being transmitted directly to him.

Sarah glanced over John's shoulder the message. John looked up at her with a silent contempt in his eyes. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear." He quoted.

"Do you want me to send word to New Vegas?" She asked, her mind back on her job.

Before John could respond another message came through, this one even more brief than the last. It simply read two words: Supreme Anarchy

"No." John said, sweat in his brow, hatred in his voice, and a fire burning inside of his dark heart. "I want to savor my revenge." John declared.

"Then I'm coming too." She said, determination and confidence in her throaty voice. John looked at her curiously. "I've fought with you since the Faction bombed the Capital, I want to see this through to the end."

John rolled his eyes, not in an annoyed way, more in a way that basically said: Don't give me a reason. John walked over to the intercom at the doorway. "This is the Courier. Lazarus report to the Raven Hanger. Bring Amata with you."

Sarah stopped in her tracks behind him as quickly as she had begun. John's eyes fell back towards her, remembering that key detail had been left out to her. "I'll explain on the way."

* * *

Sarah meeting the Amata clone was a bit of a surreal experience. In one way they had known each other for years and in another way they were meeting for the first time, uneasily approaching each other from opposite ends of the room. When they met square in the middle of the room things weren't any different. John and Lazarus were discussing a battle plan in the Raven leaving the two of them outside with time to talk.

Of course, the first few minutes were nothing but silence. Silence that could be practically grasped in hand like a piece of stale cake, thick as a brick of lead and twice as dense. It was uncomfortable for Amata and disturbing for Sarah, who long expressed disapproval of cloning, terming it as a despicable craft.

Amata was the first to break the silence, to both relief and anger of Sarah. "What was she like?" Amata asked.

Sarah looked back at her from the other end of the landing ramp. "Who?" She asked in response, tensely holding a still warm Laser Rifle.

"Amata, the original I mean." She asked, her eyes locked in a dead stare with Sarah, who was hesitant to answer.

"You tell me. You have all her memories. Sarah crowed coldly.

Amata puckered her lips in unneeded shame. "That's true..." She gently began, reopening her mouth with a depressed tone. "...But I don't have her feelings, her exact personality. It would help if I could understand who I... She was."

Sarah eyed her again, this time a little more openly the before. "Why would you care about how a dead woman thinks? Even if you are a clone, you're still an independent thinker. Craft your own personality, your own life, make a name for yourself."

"That's just it. I don't know how." She said. "That's why I need to know how the original acted, maybe I could craft something from there. Like the foundation work for a complex building, it has to be laid before construction can begin." For once, that kind of logic seemed to make sense to Sarah, whose eyes darted back in Amata's direction again, this time with genuine feelings. She holstered her weapon and walked out towards the clone.

"If you really want to know, the original Amata was a gentle soul. She had heart, kindness, hope, compassion, all the things people strive to be, but she was one of the few who actually was. She wasn't bad in a fight, easily able to stand up for herself, at least from what I saw. Most of all, she was inspirational, a leader people followed, an ideal they could work towards."

"What about her relationships? Her life?" Amata asked.

This question puzzled Sarah and annoyed her to some degree. "You have her memories!" Sarah exclaimed. "From what John told me on the way here you practically balled over what Leon had become, you should know exactly what she knew and you should feel exactly as she felt."

Amata's gaze met Sarah's angry glare. "It's not clear anymore." She finally revealed. "My mind has become increasingly fractured and clouded thanks to Lazarus. All of the original feelings and memories that I felt are becoming part of the sea of cluttered images that are in my mind. The only things that are staying clear images are the names Amata, John, Leon, Siren, and all that happened after I was released from the cloning vat."

Sarah finally saw what angle Amata was coming from and felt bad for what she had said. After another pause, Sarah spoke again. "Like I said before, don't focus on a dead woman. Make a life for yourself." The sound of the Raven's engines firing off was there cue to board the ship as several large capsule were loaded into slots on the Raven's roof. As they began to enter the ship, Sarah looked at Amata one more time.

"One last thing. Loose the name. Having an identity other then "Amata or Clone" would be a good start to a new life." She boarded without another word, leaving Amata with a neat half-grin on her face. She pondered that last piece of advice before fully entering the craft, something to think about when this was all said and done.

Within a few minutes the ship lifted off. Normally this would coincide with the Raven joining a fleet of airships and John giving an inspirational speech to rally their forces for the final assault. This time? Nothing. There was a gentle hum of the Raven flying towards its destination but nothing else. No speech, no conversation, nothing but a bittersweet silence.

No one could deny what they were heading towards: the Battle of Armageddon.

* * *

It didn't take them long to reach the coordinates sent to them. They flew through a thick veil of irradiated snow and dust dancing gracefully and rhythmically in the winds above the cold vast expanse of the Rocky Mountains, but when they reached the location and landed the snow had not let up, adding a much needed calm to the tension that was mounting on the horizon. Sunlight creeped in throughout the cloud layer, creating a haze of heavenly light that seemed so cryptic and aurora-like in nature that the beauty of it could not be understated. John, Lazarus, Sarah, and Amata all scuttled off the ship in a hurry, examining the nearby surrounding for snipers and patrols, but none appeared. There was silence yet again before John motioned his fingers towards a nearby cave, clutching an Alien Blaster in his right hand, a Super-Heated Cosmic Knife on his belt, and another strange Alien Device in his left hand.

They advanced into the cave silently crouched over so that they could sneak by undetected by any patrols. The cave was frozen yet damp and warm further in, with the familiar sight of mining lights quickly blotting out the vision of the entire team before dissipating somewhere along the line.

John was always taking point, leading the team forward, while Sarah and Lazarus were directly behind him with Amata taking up the rear. No matter how deep they ventured into the cave there was no sign of a patrol or even wildlife and when they came to the entrance to the base, which consisted of two thick iron doors, not even a soldier was guarding the entrance.

Lazarus had a feeling he knew why. To test if he was right, he picked up a fair-sized rock and tossed it into the open. Within seconds it was pulverized into dust by remotely triggered 50 Caliber Machine Gun Turrets, located inside small hatches on the floor and ceiling of the entrance.

John looked at Sarah with a look of surprise. "How do you suppose we get though that?" John asked, whispering.

"Can't you use VATS?" Sarah asked, irritated.

"Those things are energy shielded from the look of the hatches and they don't emerge quick enough for me to get a good shot off." John explained.

Lazarus seemed to have his own idea as the two of them began to bicker. He picked up multiple piles of pebbles and tossed them into the opening. Within srconds the turrets began to open fire, reducing the pebbles to the same fate as there larger counterpart, but this time a cloud of dust still remained floating in the air, shifting and blooming as the machine's continued to fire upon it, rather than close themselves up in their hatches. Eventually the cloud dissipated and John realized what Lazarus was getting at. They all picked up a handful of pebbles and tossed them all through the air with a clattering roll. The dust cloud from the machine gun's bullets was much larger now and under the roar of weapons fire, John and Company took aim. With dead on aim and cunning, the turrets exploded as beams of light crashed down upon them. John hurtled over there cover and approached the iron door that stood between him and revenge.

"Looks like it's locked with a military grade security code." Lazarus said. "Let me just..." He didn't even finish his sentence before John, determined to finish this fight, pounded on the place where the doors met. His fists bleed from the first punch, but it did a sizable dent in the door. With his bleeding knuckles he pounded again, this time creating an opening large enough for him to place his fingers through. He did just that and with a screech of pain and rage he tore the doors from the wall, much to the surprise of Lazarus. The doors tumbled bent and battered to the ground as John re-equipped his Alien Blaster, entering the massive cavern Leon had been in just a few days before.

They all cautiously entered the room with weapons raised. None of the industrial lights were on, there was simply darkness, barely lit by the lights in the tunnel behind them. John looked around with caution, his eyes fixated on the shadows that surrounded them. Silence lingered throughout the heavy air of the room and no one made the first move. Lazarus activated his infrared eyes at John's command and upon using them discovered that they were not alone. Suddenly, the lights went on with a blinding bloom, revealing that they were surrounded by Anarchy One's forces. From the catwalk that spanned the upper half of the room, the Watcher laughed with a sinister roar.

"Hello Courier." Amaya said with a sadistic laugh. "I didn't think you'd ever show your face again, what with the cow you called your wife butchered into mince meat." She sighed sarcastically, intending to anger the Courier. "What was her name... Cass right?"

"Don't you dare speak that name, you bitch." John threatened. "I've come for you. To cut your heart from your fucking chest."

"Oh I'm terrified." She taunted, her face alight with amusement. "Tell me how would you do that? With your so called strike team here? Let's have a head count then." She looked at his team. "A failed commander who led her troops to their death, a corrupt and insane machine who takes all logic and send a bullet through its head, and..." Amaya's eyes became fixed on her counterpart. Her taunting and sadistic expression drained away and in its place a look of hatred fueled fury. "You dare to bring that abomination here?!"

John slowly grinned at her contempt. "I dare and you know what else?" Amaya cringed waiting for an answer as her face looked like a vein was going to pop.

"I brought a winning edge." He showed the alien device in his hand and pressed a button on it. Without warning a shriek of terrible wrath echoed throughout the caves followed by a sound that could only be matched by a thousand glass bottles falling and shattering along a gravel floor. Suddenly the door frame was filled with flying pieces of polar white metal lined with lime green circuitry, before they began to assemble themselves on the ground into six structured creations.

One by one the put themselves together, revealing John's most dangerous creation: the Vanquishers. They were giants standing at 9 feet tall and viciously strong. They each looked humanoid but only in body shape and build, designed after someone John had heard about as a child: Frank Horrigan. A sort of boogeyman to children, John had used the stories of Horrigan's Gigantic Size and power to create these Vanquishers. Stature, strength, design, and overall intimidation had been preserved quite well. Their were quite a few things changed though; all the places where Horrigan had his armor were completely round but no less gigantic and the head consisted of a flat featureless face except for one detail: a glowing circular eye, six inches in diameter that glowed green along with long wires of circuits that formed a sort of mosaic pattern across the body of the Vanquishers. All in all they were fearsome, especially when they could disassemble and reassemble at will.

One of the Anarchy One soldiers, bearing T-45d Power Armor and a Gauss Rifle panicked, and fired several shots at one of the Vanquishers. A mistake he would not live to regret. Suddenly the circular eye fired a thick beam of blue and green energy that cut through power armor like it was butter being sliced by a knife. The man burst into ash that glowed a shade of bloody crimson.

John grinned a sinister grin at Amaya. "What was that about being scared?" John asked.

Within seconds after he said that, Armageddon began.


	32. The Last Revolution

This is it everyone. This is the end. The final chapter, the ultimate battle, THE Last Revolution. All I have to say I suppose is thank you. Thank you to all who followed me through the trilogy and all the spots in between, who have been with me from the beginning and readers who joined with these last two. Thank you for your reviews, your favorite, your follows, all of it. It has meant the world to me. I hope the ending doesn't disappoint.

This will not be the last you'll hear of me or my Fallout stories but I think I'm going to take break from pure Fallout stories to focus on my Mass Effect crossover then come back afterwards. Again thank you all and for one last time: Read and Enjoy!

* * *

CyberJordan: She's signed her death warrant all right. You'll be surprised who delivers the final blow.

Oddliver: Shame indeed.

Slovous: Wait's over. Hope you'll have something to say at the end. I really hope it's not disappointment.

dragonclaw1000: For the last battle, he better pose a threat. Like I said above, really hope it's not disappointment.

Exile037: I slip a little something in for the heroes return. His brief return.

Chazzen01: It won't. I hope.

The Night Hunter: I think you're overselling me a little. Bethesda's got a very talented team of writer's who could come up with something ten times better easily. But thank you anyway.

Nukeman: With a bang and a whimper.

* * *

Chapter 32

The Last Revolution

The battle that broke out after the Vanquishers arrival did not waste any time in taking lives. Anarchy One's forces opened fire with a blaze of green and red from their Energy Weapons, but the Vanquishers quickly retaliated with their own rays of death. John and his team dove into cover behind the Atlas Pillars, the massive columns holding the base up around them. John fired several shots from his Alien Blaster into the storm of light that was surging around them, hoping to hit Amaya with one of the blasters savage and stinging bolts. It seemed Lazarus and Amata had a similar idea; they shot at the catwalk trying to bring it down on top of the Anarchy One soldiers behind it but were being very careful in not damaging the Atlas Pillars. If even one of those was destroyed the mountain ceiling would give way, crushing everyone in the room.

The rush of Laser Rifle beams cutting through the air with their crimson light was an exhilarating feeling to say the least, this full-scale fire-fight was escalating quickly. John took several more shots from his blaster at the enemy, disintegrating several of them as he leapt from cover in a dive. Midway through the dive he activated VATS targeting, locking on to three more soldiers, sending lightning fast bolts of light into his power armored foes, turning them to a haunting blue ash as he fell into another piece of cover behind the second Atlas Pillar.

From behind a fair-sized boulder Sarah was racking up kills with her Laser Rifle. She never lost her ability to shoot and her aim was dead on every time. As dust and rocks were kicked into the air by misplaced laser blasts and the smell of burning dirt and rock reached her senses, she remained focused and calm. Stress didn't get to her as much as it did others and that was something anyone could fear. As she fired at an Anarchy One sniper on the catwalk, he fired back with a burst from a Recharger Rifle, not a very powerful weapon but an effective one none the less. One of the beams cut across her across her right cheek, cutting into her like a knife and bringing blood to the surface. She flinched for a second but almost immediately regained focus and took a well placed shot at the sniper. With the roar of a Max Charge cell, a powerful ray of light sliced the sniper's head open, cracking his skull like an egg. In a fountain of red he fell off the catwalk and crashed to the ground like a can of paint falling from its shelf. She smiled slightly as she felt her cheek. She always loved a firefight, even if she could die during it. Her smile vanished when she heard the sound of someone cloaked behind her and turned on a dime to react. Suddenly, the blade of the Watcher came crashing down on her rifle, cutting it clean in two with a volley of sparks. Amaya stood, her face screeching fury at the Sentinel. Sarah rolled out-of-the-way of the next slash, grabbing a long titanium pole that had been shot loose during the start of the fight. She held it in defensive position as Amaya prepared to strike.

They didn't waste time with a taunt or even a single word. They struck at each other with savage force, crashing together in a bright flutter of sparks. The sword's blade was deadly but the pole was strong and durable. Amaya took a swing at Sarah's lower legs first but was repelled quickly by the pole, creating an almost tuning fork like shake as they clashed. Sarah couldn't advance however, the pole was not a match for the speed of a sword and would get her killed if she tried to go on the offensive. Another swing came rushing towards her head with incredible speed and strength. With only seconds to spare, Sarah bended backwards in trying to dodge the electric blade. She succeeded, barely, in dodging the sword. She recognized that her Power Armor was slowing her down, preventing her from having good mobility, so she did what she had too. She activated an emergency release device on her leg that made the armor fall apart around her. One by one armor plates flaked off and hit the ground with thud which left her with only a tattered Merc Grunt Outfit on. Amaya ran forward with a leap, her blade for Sarah's throat. The blade cut the pole in two with a powerful sweep, but Sarah continued to be able to block the strikes.

From behind another Atlas Pillar, Lazarus and Amata were unloading round after round at the enemy forces in range of their weaponry. Saturnite Rounds loaded into Amata's Assault Rifle were inflicting savage injuries upon Anarchy One, whose's run of the mill Power Armor might as well been a piece of cloth in the face of those deadly rounds. Lazarus had an equally devastating effect from his Particle Rifle, its beam crashing against their enemies with a thunderous roar and a violent scream as enemies were cut down the middle by the weapon. The Vanquishers were spreading out all over the place, shredding everything in their path as they did. Their high-powered fusion beams destroyed anything they came into contact with, pulverizing it into dust or cutting it into bite-size chunks. Either way nothing survived an encounter with these titans.

Amata turned her head to Lazarus as they fired away. "They don't seem to understand that they can't win." She confidently assumed.

"Don't be so sure." Lazarus replied. "It doesn't seem there directly trying to fight us. To me it looks like there stalling for something or someone."

"Who?"

* * *

That question was soon to be answered. As the battle raged on, John realized that a direct offensive would be a stalemate, and besides it was the Watcher he wanted, not Anarchy One. They were just a bonus in this skirmish, as John quickly proved. He snuck behind the enemy, unaware of Amaya and Sarah's duel on the otherside of the room, and went into the stone corridors. He ran through the brick-lined halls with his Alien Blaster in hand, executing anyone who got in his way. Throughout his search, he found no sign of the enemy he pursued, but at one point, he turned the hall to run and stopped dead in his tracks. A shadow was running down the hall, seemingly panicked by something. For a moment he was still, then he took off after it. Whoever was running was trying to escape him.

"Not on your life." He mumbled. He ran down tunnel after tunnel and corridor after corridor in pursuit of the runner. He chased him for what felt like half an hour before he lost sight of the shadow but stumbled upon something else quite different: the Reactor Room. He cautiously opened the door to the Reactor room and stepped in, Alien Blaster ready to fire. The room was dark but the light of the four reactors energy illuminated the glow with a faded green light, revealing someone standing in the center of the room, sitting on a makeshift metal throne.

"And so the Agent of Vengeance has arrived." They said, voice teaming with contempt. "The first of two obstacles in my path." The unknown figure stood up, revealing themselves to the light as Goliath. "I have long awaited this day."

John's perception was probably the only thing that wasn't covered in hate at this point. He knew exactly who he was talking to. "I've heard of you Goliath. The firstborn of the Dark Crucible, the only true equal to Orion if I remember correctly."

"Equal?" Goliath began to laugh with a menacing grin. "Pathetic human, I am the greatest of the Crucible, far greater than the intolerable wretch that you call Orion, and you will kneel to my magnificence." The machine demanded.

John easily understood why Amaya was the herald to this monster. They were practically, and John suspected literally, made for each other. "Sorry to tell you but I'm not bowing down. Besides, if you hate Orion so much, why not help me take him down? The machine's stare became somewhat curious. Think about it. We share a common foe, the greatest threat to humanity's existence since the Great War."

Goliath seemed agitated now. "I don't think you quite understand me. I may not share my brother's wish to exterminate the human race, but that doesn't mean I want you to roam free." John's hopes for an alliance were shattered almost as soon as they had formed. "You belong in cages and camps. Act like the primal animals that you are while I reign supreme over the Earth, carefully rebuilding and nurturing it back to health. Prepare it for when another race emerges on the Earth, one more calm and collected then you savages." John's hate returned ten-fold at that. He didn't speak though he just stood there silent, the blood pumping through his artificial heart simmering with rage. "Nothing to say?" Goliath asked, taking a sick pleasure in his plans. "I offered your adversary Leon a deal that may change your mind. In exchange for his assistance in destroying the remnants of Supremacy One and giving me power, I would allow him revenge on you and a part in my plans." John looked up at him, ears open at the name Leon. "He knows what I intend to do, perhaps that's why he refused. He's sitting in a containment cell as we speak." John easily saw where this was heading.

"So I'll offer you the same deal. Help me and I'll let you kill Leon Stinger." John looked at Goliath as if he was actually considering the deal, but several moments passed, and John had his answer.

"No." John declared. "It will be a cold day in hell before I help you put the human race in chains. Leon had the conscience to deny you, I will too." John raised his blaster. "You're an animal that needs to be put down." His finger was placed firmly on his trigger. "I am more than happy to be the one to do it."

Goliath sighed. "Shame. I had higher hopes for you." Without even a second passing, there was a sudden flash of blinding white light, and John swiftly felt the gun kicked out of his hand and the air kicked out of him simultaneously. He fell back with several bruised ribs and a broken wrist. He didn't even know what happened until he saw Goliath run forward again, wielding John's own Alien Blaster. John was quick enough to dodge a few shots from the blaster but Goliath hit like a tank and John felt that truth very quickly. His arm twisted and snapped with a sharp crack as Goliath threw him across the room, smashing him straight into one of the reactor radiation shields. The shield only consisted of reinforced lead-lined glass and Goliath's strength put that shielding to the test. It cracked slightly, but no actual radiation leaked from the reactor.

John slumped from the glass and landed on the floor with pained moan. He pulled his back up weapons, twin Sawed-Off Shotguns loaded with Dragon's Breath shells, from their holsters and looked up at Goliath, who tossed the Alien Blaster to the side in favor of his own weapons: a Flamethrower and 12.7mm Submachine Gun concealed in his wrists as well as twin Laser and Plasma weapons on his shoulders.

"Hell of a good day to die." John mumbled. Without hesitation, John pulled the trigger and sent shells flying in one final attempt to end the threat poised by the Dark Crucible and the Last Revolution.

With the clank of metal the shotgun shells hit the armor, sparks hitting the air as they bounced off the armor, but some of them went through, giving John hope that he wasn't invincible. Even so, Goliath was a one man army and it showed. John felt the burn of flames against his skin as fire touched his flesh from the flamethrower, glowing a poisonous green, directly followed the searing pain of scolding metal rounds penetrating his body. He fell backwards onto the steps, burning and bleeding, while Goliath didn't even move an inch. He just stood with a sick grin on his face, the glass on the shields slowly cracking open.

"You didn't even prove to be a challenge. I'm so disappointed." He laughed. "I suppose it's better than the Lone Wanderer just surrendering. Anything you want to say before I end your miserable existence?"

John smiled as he watched the glass crack. "Yeah..." He started, the flames going out and his wounds healing. "Go to hell." He fired the remaining shell in his shotgun at the cracking glass and watched as it shattered open in a wide arc of radioactive green lightning. Goliath shrieked as the lights flickered from a massive overload in the power system. John ducked behind the throne and covered his head. In a sound the rivaled a sonic boom, a huge explosion shook the mountain to the core as all four reactors destabilized and exploded. The breached radiation shielding allowed all the excess electricity focus on one point: Goliath. He screamed and yelled in absolute agony as the energy surged through ever different part of his crumpled body. He collapsed to the ground, the lights going dark, and the sound of the emergency generators powering up.

John walked over from cover and kneeled over the wrecked remains of Goliath, who looked up at him with a broken stare. Rather then fury or anger, though, it was a sense of joy and if he didn't know better, humanity.

"Thank you." He said. "The key is broken. Humanity is safe."

John looked at him with a curiosity lined with hate. "Why so happy? Your plans are finished, the revolution is over."

Goliath laughed, even though it was incredibly painful for him. "You honestly believe I held any resentment towards the human race? I did that to provoke you into doing this." Slowly, Goliath pulled something from his back and revealed it to John. "This is the final Absolution Key." From John's perspective it was nothing more than scrap metal. "Without it Orion's Last Revolution is over before it can even begin."

"Why are you so happy?" John asked again, demanding an answer.

"Because... Unlike my brother, I know what humanity is like. You're not all animals... Some people like you, Leon, and other around the world are the true messiahs... You may slip into darkness, but you always crawl back. You can always redeem yourselves, no matter what happens." Goliath stopped smiling when he realized something. "He is here. He has come for me and you."

John didn't need a psychic to know who had arrived. He ran towards the door, picking up the Alien Blaster as he ran. As the door clanked open and John was half-way through the frame, Goliath called after him.

"He cannot escape. Whatever it takes he must fall here."

* * *

Back in the main entryway the battle seemed to be drawing closer and closer to an end. The Vanquisher's seemed to be wiping away any pockets of resistance, but Anarchy One was relentless, and they would fight to the last man.

This was especially true of the Watcher, whose battle with Sarah Lyons had not even come close to an ending, but it was obvious that without help Sarah would lose. Amata and Lazarus were dealing with enemies on the far side of the room, unable to assist her. Amaya took a violent flurry of stabs at Sarah and several of them hit, drawing blood from Sarah's wounded form. She used the pieces of pole like two small daggers, but they were failing her. Moments later, Amaya took a well placed sweep at Sarah, and the blade cut clear at her wrist. With a deafening yell, Sarah's hand was severed from the rest of her body and she fell to the ground in pain, grabbing the arm as blood poured onto the floor. As she lay broken on her knees, she looked up as Amaya was ready to take a slash at her head.

"The lion's final roar. How does it feel to know death is upon you?" Amaya asked with pleasure.

Sarah looked up at her and smiled. "I don't know. How does it feel?" She coughed.

Amaya couldn't respond as a firm hand wrapped around her throat. She was flipped around to face her attacker: Leon Stinger, free and very angry. Amaya choked and coughed as she looked into the furious eyes of the Lone Wanderer. The next thing she knew she was thrown against several rocks, feeling her collarbone come loose from its place as she fell to the ground. She looked up and tried to reach for her blade and fight the Lone Wanderer, only for him to kick the blade away.

A kick crashed into her side and she rolled over with a cry of pain. Looking up into the light, her vision blurred and her throat filling with blood, she looked on as Leon kicked her in the jaw, shattering her jaw and cracking her skull open in at least three different places. Choking and coughing up against the rocks, she was ready for the final shot to be fired from Leon's 10mm pistol. Instead though, with barely a though left in her mind, she saw the shot come from the other side of the room, and it wasn't a shot: It was a handful of broken glass. The landed in three different areas that would prove fatal from bleeding, the first two being her neck and heart, but the last lodged itself perfectly into her eye and with a disturbing slicing noise, she died, blood pouring onto the floor like a fountain.

Leon turned to see who had thrown the glass and was almost made sick when he saw her: Amata, the clone whose sanity had remained intact. Her hand was bleeding from the glass, but she didn't care. She walked forward and looked at the carnage she had caused. The weapons fire had ceased, the battle was won. Lazarus was tending to Sarah, cauterizing her hand and bandaging it but none of them were aware of the true danger that was walking through the caverns behind them.

"I think I earned that." Amata said, kicking the body to make sure her "sibling" was dead. Leon did not speak, not even a whisper or mumble, he just stared sickly at her, realizing that Siren had created them as weapons against him.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and brushed some dust off. "You are real..." She mumbled, confirming a suspicion of bother her and Lazarus: the nightmares she had were memories of the Watcher's. She removed her hand moments later, her expression turning to sorrow. She knew what he was thinking, she knew what emotional hell he must have gone through to get here, and she did the smart thing.

"I'm not her." She said. "I'm not the original, I'm not Amata." Her voice seemed saddened and almost ashamed to say this to Leon, whose expression slowly changed as he saw something in her eyes: Truth. Amata didn't see it though. "I came just to know that what I know is real. My future depended on it." Lazarus looked up at her, a look of relief in his bones.

"I didn't think you were." Leon finally said, grim tone of voice. "It doesn't matter anyway. When Amata died, she took my feelings with her. I buried them in her grave. Whatever you are, whatever you decide to be, is up to you." He walked over towards Sarah, leaving the Clone a little hurt, but overall she felt relief and closure, giving her a sense of freedom from the past. Her memories and feelings once again rearranged as she felt that, following Leon but not towards Sarah. Instead she walked towards Lazarus, knowing exactly what he was planning to do after this and wanting a part in it.

Leon kneeled down to the bandaged Sarah, whose hand was now a stub and had a wrap around her head due to a nasty crack on the head when she fell.

"You didn't have to jump in the way." Sarah declared with false confidence. "I could have won."

Leon smiled, his metal augmentations and wires sparking blue. "Do I even get a thank you?" He asked, his voice seemingly calm.

"No." She coughed, a splatter of blood splashing out as she did. "And if John gets his way... You won't get anything short of a hanging either." Leon didn't seem worried and Sarah saw something she never expected to see again: The Lone Wanderer. Not Leon Stinger, the Executioner, or the Cyber-Demon, but the Lone Wanderer, hero of the Capital Wasteland, rebuilder of civilization, and human being.

"I guess I'll have to run." He said with satisfaction. "Want to come with me? It can get quite lonely out there in the wastes." He was trying to be suave and cool, but Sarah looked straight through his illusion and answered it with a simple reaction. She reached around him and kissed him, Leon more than happy to do the same. They stopped after a moment and a got a brief chuckle from Lazarus.

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" A chilling voice chimed. Leon's feelings were buried in fear when he heard that voice, so were everyone elses. Every head in the room turned with paralyzing dread and all eyes gazed at the door.

Standing there, clad in a tattered armored white robe, was Orion.

His dark crimson eyes inspired fear in the hearts of everyone. They all had seen what he was capable off, all knew what he could do, and none of them, not even Leon and the Vanquishers could stop him alone. He proved that second point very easily as the Vanquisher's tried to charge Orion, seeing as he was their top threat. As they turned into their shard forms again, Orion raised his hand and fired a circular pulse at the six of them and they all fell to the ground like stones, lifeless. The Courier's ultimate weapon to defeat Supremacy One was rendered useless.

"I'm sorry to interrupt this most touching of moments but I have a schedule to keep." His eyes fell upon Lazarus, who was standing now and ready to fight to the death. "Just because you can block your control device doesn't mean you have a fool-proof plan. Funny to think that you actually believed Vandal would survive betraying me so you could escape. Well, no matter the setbacks, no matter the damages, I have won. None of you are in any position to defeat me."

This was true. All of them were weary, even Leon, whose cybernetic implants had not properly adapted to his body yet. Despite that, it was Leon who stood forth first, his face firmly locked into an expression of defiance.

"Maybe not." He said, drawing a Blade of Black Saturnite from it's holster. "But I will fight you to the bitter end." Leon knew no one else was eager to assist him, not even Lazarus, whose contempt for the so-called Lord of the Machine had just skyrocketed at the discovery of his brother's death. He stood in the middle of the room, ready to kill.

"This is humanity's final defense? A reject, a fallen hero, a broken man?" He taunted, describing Leon in increasingly derogatory ways. "The Lone Wanderer, truly alone at his final battle." That's when a voice rang out from behind, catching Leon and Orion's attention instantly.

"No. Not alone Orion." The rugged and throaty western voice of the last man anyone expected to defend the Lone Wanderer: the Courier. From the catwalk, John looked down with Alien Blaster in hand, aiming it with eyes locked on Orion. His finger was placed calmly and firmly on the trigger.

"Well, bravo on the dramatic entrance." Orion sneered. "Forgive me for not feeling absolute terror, but you're still at a massive disadvantage." Orion demonstrated that by powering up his gauntlets and firing a beam near the catwalk, narrowly missing John. He didn't even flinch, knowing something Orion didn't for once.

"I'm giving you a chance to leave." John declared. "I'd take it."

"And why would I do that? This is the threshold of victory, what could possibly make me abandon it?" Orion asked, his confidence slipping as he saw John's small but clever grin.

"Because Goliath is dead, his key has been destroyed. The Last Revolution is finished." John revealed to the room, much to everyone's surprise. For the first time in the years since John met Orion, he was quiet, his voice drowned in silence. His metal face began to pulsate and convulse with wrath. Moments later he screamed with a rage that shook both the people and the mountain to the core.

Leon barely had time to dodge a ray of golden death heading right for his head. The beam instead crashed against the back wall with a thunderous quake, making everyone jump to their feet in preparation to dodge any more of the beams.

"YOU ARROGANT FOOLS!" Orion cried, his voice crackling with astounding rage. "SO MUCH PLANNING, SO MUCH TIME, ALL FOR NOTHING!"

John dove from the catwalk, going in firing with a rapid-fire burst from the recovered Alien Blaster. The bolts of pale energy rushed through the air with a shriek and hit Orion with a splash of blue. The bolts melted through Orion's armored shell and skin like molten magma, but Orion's rage completely erased his entire ability to feel anything else. John landed only a few feet behind the machine and was able to get off several extra shots before rolling out of the way of another beam, this one singeing his arm with severe burns.

Orion fired several more beams at the running John, almost forgetting about Leon. He quickly remembered him when a Saturnite Blade almost beheaded him, the blade coming within inches of his neck before Orion heard the swoop of the blade and ducked, the blade gliding across nothing but thin air. Orion quickly turned around, gauntlet sill warm from a fresh laser, and rolled his talon-like fingers into a fist. The punch hit Leon like a battering ram knocking down ancient castle doors and sent his cybernetic body flying into an Atlas Pillar. The pillar, already damaged during the earlier fighting, began to rumble and crack with force. A sizable chunk fell from the pillar, nearly crushing the disoriented Lone Wanderer, but Lazarus jumped out and grabbed him out of the way.

He snapped his bony fingers softly at Leon. "Come on, Wanderer, we need you!" He cried.

Slowly Leon looked up at Lazarus's skull and managed to crow a few words out. "Get everyone out of here. If we can't defeat Orion, no one else should die for it." He looked up at Lazarus stunned expression. "Go! Now!" Leon got to his feet and dashed back to the fight.

The unstable Atlas Pillar did not discourage Orion and John from fighting in the shadow of the four of them. John had run out of ammunition for the Alien Blaster, partly because he hadn't counted on being dependent on it and partly because Orion slashed his ammo pouch open and stomped the cells into a puddle of glowing blue muck. John had managed to draw one of his Sawed-Off Shotguns but not the other. The boom of the shotgun's burst was loud and echoing in the cavern, but as loud as it was he could have fired a BB Gun and had the same effect against Orion. The small balls of Saturnite ejected from the shell when it fired did nothing but dent Orion's armor, despite Saturnite's effectiveness against the Faction and Supremacy One in the past. He managed to get off about four bursts before Orion tore the weapon from his hand and crushed it, followed swiftly by kicking him square in the chest and knocking him to the ground. Before Orion could finish him, he turned on a dime as he fell and threw six throwing knives into Orion's chest, rolling to his feet as he did. In a surprise to John the knifes actually penetrated the armor, wounding Orion who was stumbling as he pulled the knifes from his chest. John drew a Superheated Cosmic Knife from his belt and charged again, heart full of courage and pumping fire into his veins. He clashed in a flurry of sparks against Orion's steel plated wrist and they pushed against each other. Eventually, Orion began to over power him again, and had his claws firmly locked on John's right hand which held the knife. A fatal mistake, because John, thinking quickly and holding nothing back, loosened his grip on the Cosmic Knife and let it slide from his restrained right hand right into the unguarded left hand. With a violent thrust, Orion watched helplessly as the sharpest knife in the world, boosted with scolding heat, was driven straight into his chest. He let go of John's hand and struggled to remove the knife which was drawing smooth and pale green liquid from his chest. The blade had cut right through and melted several crucial devices that kept him up and running. He wouldn't be able to repair them quick enough without John firing a killshot and if he didn't repair them his systems would terminate in less than ten minutes.

"You..." He started, hands quivering and muscles shaking. "You haven't won. I may perish here, but I will take humanity's champion down with me." He raised his still working Gauntlet and fired a beam directly at John, who was standing too close to dodge the golden beam. Within seconds, John's duster was on fire and in tatters, crumbling to the ground as he coughed and choked on smoke and blood.

"I am Orion, Leader of Supremacy One and Lord of the Machine." He said, raising his gauntlet for another strike at John, who couldn't defend himself now. "I will not fall to vermin and savages like you and that pathetic Lone-" Orion couldn't even finish his sentence before a blade of Black Saturnite tore straight through his throat from behind. There was a few sparks and a gush of green, but seconds later nothing. No movement, not another word, not even a final taunt.

Orion, the Destroyer of Civilizations and Lord of the Machine, was dead, killed by none other than the Lone Wanderer.

Orion's body crumbled to floor as the blade was removed from his mangled and sparking skull. Leon looked down at it with contempt and hatred but also a sense of satisfaction. He had just saved all of humankind from the most destructive maniac ever to exist, but he had one last thing to attend to. He walked over to John, who lay on the ground, his body slowly healing.

"Well... John started, coughing up a bit of blood. "Go ahead and kill me." He coughed up a more blood as he looked at Orion's unmoving body. Everyone else had managed to escape, only they remained in the cavern. The Atlas Pillar was stabilized and the room was still and silent. "I don't care anymore. Everyone I ever cared about is gone and you just killed the only reason I should still live. It's strange. When this all started, I was convinced we would win a swift and decisive victory against Supremacy One. I believed I would go home a hero and live my days in a anew age of peace, but as things escalated and bodies piled up I adopted a new philosophy: That heroes don't exist. The only things that exist are only men like us, men who fall into ruthlessness and despair, men who don't get happy endings. I guess I was right in the end."

What happened next shocked John. Leon's empty hand reached out from his side, his battered face showing something the Courier had long thought was gone from Leon's mind: Forgiveness.

"You haven't earned the right to die yet, Courier." Leon declared. "Vegas still needs it's hero and humanity still needs a leader." John's shock quickly evaporated into humility. He took Leon's hand and stood up meeting him eye to eye both of them finally understanding each other.

"Thank you." John said, his face sporting neon green scars and humbled eyes. This was a moment history would remember forever, a moment of acceptance, brotherhood, and truth.

But John was right: There are no happy endings.

Moments later the miracle evaporated into tragedy. Before either of them could react, one final beam of haunting gold light tore through the air at record speed, and Leon's eyes widened, briefly grunting in pain, before collapsing the ground in a practical lake of his nanite infused-blood.

John looked on in horror before glancing upwards towards the beams origin: Orion. He was barely able to sit up, but he did what he aimed to do: Kill humanity's champion.

He laughed with sinister delight one last time and was glad to get the last word with the Courier. "I win Courier, I win..." Seconds later, Orion fell backwards, on his back, finally dead.

All John could do was kneel down to Leon, whose blood had stopped spilling onto the floor. There was simply none left in his body to let out. He was dead, the Lone Wanderer was truly dead.

"No..." John mumbled, horror and grief in his voice. "No, no, no, no." He kept saying to himself, his voice steadily rising in volume. "It can't end like this, no, it just can't." His voice echoed across the vast cavern, alone and without happiness. From his backpack, the package given to him by Ulysses fell, splitting open on the ground, revealing it's contents: A Courier Duster, except this one was for Leon in particular, with the first verse of Revelation 21;6 sewn in faded yellow fabric on the collar, and a vibrant yellow 101 stitched on the back, torn straight from the remains of Leon's Armored Vault Suit, showing that Ulysses had never given up on Leon. The package was delivered. The hero had his final tribute.

John looked into the air, his eyes drenching his coat, and screamed. "IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS!" With that last scream ringing throughout the empty mountains, the Last Revolution and Supremacy War were over, the cost of victory far too high.

For War, War Never Changes.

* * *

**In case I wasn't absolutely clear above, thank you all. I really hope that ending was satisfying, I know it didn't have the usual epilouge and everything, but I wanted to leave on a darker and more uncertain note. I'm going to continue writing Fallout stories set in the Supremacy One universe, going deeper into the plot threads I have deliberately left open, but as I also said above I'm going to focus on my other story for a while, but when I come back I think you'll like what I have up my sleeve.**

**I can't even describe what a great experience this has been, writing the adventures of the Courier and Lone Wanderer, but I'm glad so many have read and enjoyed my work. If people ever want me to return to these character's specifically, I will gladly do that. I will not stop writing anytime soon and I hope you'll stick with me when I return to what I started with.**

**For now, though, thank you and goodbye.**


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